Ministers James Murray and Daniel Zeichner penned a piece in the Times last week defending Labour’s new farm tax. Incensed farmers are due to descend on Westminster next week in a protest attended by Jeremy Clarkson…
They brandish an intellectual foundation for their new tax:
“As tax and economics experts from the IFS and the Tax Policy Centre have suggested, these changes are reasonable and fair. These changes strike a balanced approach that will ensure we can continue to protect family farms while also allowing us to ensure stability in the public finances and fix the public services that those same farming families rely on.”
Guido didn’t recognise the Tax Policy Centre and asked the Treasury to clarify, which it did, that the ministers are referring to the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax). That “think tank” is run by Arun Advani and Andy Summers, two of the three “wealth tax commissioners” who consistently push for huge tax hikes…
A 2023 IFS report called for the scrappage of Agricultural Property Relief and other “loopholes” on farms. It was written by Arun Advani.
Analysis calling for APR to be capped was produced by the IFS before the election this year. It was written by Arun Advani.
CenTax’s recent report calling for APR to be capped was written by Arun Advani. The think tank has, in fact, led the charge in calling for taxes on carried interest, the removal of the non-dom regime, and hikes in Capital Gains Tax. Reeves has contracted out her tax policymaking to far-left academics Advani and Summers…
Advani, who also sits on the advisory board of the OBR, himself said at Labour Conference that he was “optimistic” because the Labour government is “genuinely listening” to his ideas. The groundswell of support for Labour’s tax hikes is being entirely manufactured…
Labour Conference is developing a strong anti-media narrative. Starmer’s allies have taken to complaining bitterly about journalists reporting on his and his ministers’ freebie-taking…
At a pro-tax love-in this morning attended by Exchequer Secretary James Murray and a selection of high-tax activists discussed fiscal proposals including more than doubling capital gains tax and imposing additional taxation on the well-endowed. Wealth tax fanatic Arun Advani said he was “optimistic” because the Labour government is “genuinely listening” to his ideas. Which include growth-crushing expansions of existing taxes…
Ex-FT reporter and Labour rising star Yuan Yang MP rounded off the event by claiming that “access to Lobby journalists” is held primarily by vested interests and the majority of reporting on tax issues is “not representative of what people say to me on the doorstep.” She urged Labour activists present to take “action” to combat the media narrative and present the case for higher tax. No doubt those tight new controls on the press will help…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”