Transport for London has done a screeching U-turn after accidentally banning a week-long Greenpeace campaign urging Rachel Reeves to tax the super-rich. Old habits banning ads die hard…
Greenpeace had snapped up ad space at Westminster Tube Station from October 23rd to 28th, just in time for the Budget. The ad, with Reeves’ face alongside the tagline, “They have the money. She has the power,” demanded a 2.5% “National Renewal Tax” on fortunes over £10 million. Though when Greenpeace went to see their handiwork, TfL had quietly given it the axe…
According to The Standard, TfL’s initial excuse was they couldn’t run it without Reeves’ “written permission” unless she’d publicly aligned herself with the statement. The Committee of Advertising Practice confirmed no permission was needed, since the ad wasn’t portraying Reeves negatively (free-marketeers would disagree). They must have realised that Reeves is preparing to hammer ‘non-working’ people on six-figure salaries in her Budget tomorrow anyway. The ads will now be running on the network – a bit late. Greenpeace doing the Chancellor’s PR for her…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”