wealth tax

Greens say that people can see through pre-election Budget tax bribes

Spread the love
Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

“People can see through these pre-election tax bribes that will have to be paid for by cuts to our NHS and other vital public services,” says Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer. 

Denyer said: 

“People are crying out for investment in social care, in our NHS and in dentistry. We needed a ‘care full’ Budget but have ended up with a careless, reckless Budget. 

“Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is attempting to bribe the electorate through tax cuts, which can only mean more pain for public services that are already on their knees.   

“People won’t be richer, healthier or happier because of this Budget. People know a con when they see one.  

“The Fairness Foundation found only 16 per cent of the British public and 17 per cent of Conservative voters would support tax cuts if it meant public service cuts.

“Councils are going bust up and down the country, NHS waits are getting longer, dentists can’t be found, while anyone travelling by train or bus, or visiting our town centres feels the lack of investment all around them. 

“These headline tax cuts will do nothing to reverse the decade-long, real-terms wage freeze most workers have faced under successive Conservative governments. 

“The Resolution Foundation says those earning up to £19k pa will be losers because of freezing of tax thresholds, while pensioners and those on benefits gain nothing at all.

“There is wealth in the UK, but it is distributed unfairly. Our economy is failing because our wealth, rather than circulating and benefiting everybody, is held in the stagnant assets of the super-rich.  

“So, we needed a Budget that released the money available from a wealth tax to invest in the green jobs of the future, to cut NHS queues and restore nature and the places we live and work. 

“We needed a Budget that introduced a Wealth Tax, and reformed Capital Gains Tax and National Insurance to raise over £50bn per year.

“That would have provided the vital public investment our country is crying out for. 

“Now we have Labour huffing and puffing but offering no real alternative to being locked into a Conservative-forged cuts straitjacket. 

“Thankfully, a General Election is coming where people can vote Green for the real change that will lead to a fairer, healthier and more caring country.” 

Continue ReadingGreens say that people can see through pre-election Budget tax bribes

Labour’s policy is unending poverty for the working class

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour’s-policy-unending-poverty-working-class

…

Labour has ruled out a wealth tax if it wins the next general election.

And to make it absolutely clear, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has emphasised that Labour would not increase the top rate of income tax.

…

The first of Starmer’s 10 pledges when running to succeed Jeremy Corbyn was to “increase income tax for the top 5 per cent of earners.”

…

In a recent study the London School of Economics wealth tax commission concluded that a one-off wealth tax was preferred over increasing taxes on work or spending.

A one-off wealth tax on millionaire couples paid at 1 per cent a year for five years, they found, would raise £260bn.

By way of contrast Reeves’s spending plans rise not even to a modest £12bn.

Labour’s latest policy reversal is the clearest sign that Starmer’s electoral strategy hinges on assuring the rich and powerful that neither their wealth or power is threatened by Labour.

This is Westminster Labour’s new philosophy of never-ending poverty for working people.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour’s-policy-unending-poverty-working-class

Continue ReadingLabour’s policy is unending poverty for the working class

‘Modest’ wealth tax on richest 0.3% could raise more than £10bn for public services, says TUC

Spread the love

Abba: Money, Money, Money (“It’s a rich man’s world”.)

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/modest-wealth-tax-on-richest-0-3-could-raise-more-than-10bn-for-public-services-says-tuc/

The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million

A modest wealth tax on the richest 140,000 individuals in the country could raise more than £10bn to help pay for public services, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

With the country’s public services in a dire state and with the Tories repeatedly using excuses about not having enough money to invest in them, the TUC has set out a clear plan for how further money could be raised, by taxing the wealthiest 0.3% of the UK population, as it called for a “national conversation about taxing wealth”.

The trade union body has set out options for taxing the small number of individuals with wealth over £3 million, £5 million and £10 million, excluding pensions. It says that the options are illustrative examples of what a wealth tax could look like, using Spain’s existing policy as a potential model.

It proposes the following:

  • A wealth threshold of £3 million with a marginal tax rate of 1.7% would yield £2.7 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £3 million by 142,000 individuals or 0.27% of adults in the UK)
  • A further wealth threshold of £5 million with a marginal tax rate of 2.1% would yield an additional £3.2 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £5 million by 48,000 individuals or 0.09% of adults in the UK) 
  • A further wealth threshold of £10 million with a marginal tax rate of 3.5 % would yield an additional £4.6 billion (with the tax payable on wealth above £10 million by 17,000 individuals or 0.02% of adults in the UK).

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/08/modest-wealth-tax-on-richest-0-3-could-raise-more-than-10bn-for-public-services-says-tuc/

Continue Reading‘Modest’ wealth tax on richest 0.3% could raise more than £10bn for public services, says TUC