Rachel Reeves expected to put up taxes (Image: Getty)
Chancellor Rachel Reeves could hammer the rich with tax rises in her autumn Budget after Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said decisions would be guided by “fairness”. Ms Alexander refused to rule out a new wealth tax, saying proposals to seize a proportion of the assets of the most wealthy were “not directly” discussed at a Cabinet away-day last week.
And the Transport Secretary said decisions would be guided by a report on the state of the public finances, to be published by watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to coincide with the Budget. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer discussed plans for a new “phase” of his government with Cabinet ministers at his Chequers country retreat last week. Asked by Sky’s Trevor Phillips whether plans for a wealth tax had been discussed, Ms Alexander said: “Not directly at the away day”.
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But she did not deny tax rises were possible, saying: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the Budget, the Chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line the with the fiscal rules she has set out.”
She pointed out that Labour’s manifesto promised not to increase taxes for people on “modest incomes, working people”. Instead, she said Labour had increased taxes on independent school fees, paid by people on higher incomes, and wealthy “non doms”.
She added: “When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle”. The comments appeared to suggest that any future tax rises will target wealthy people.
Asked directly if taxes would rise Ms Alexander said she could not write the Budget today but said: “You will be aware that the global economy is very volatile at the moment.”
She added: “We will look at what those OBR forecasts are and the Chancellor will make her decisions in the round.”
An opinion poll by Opinium has found that over half (54%) of voters support a wealth tax compared to 14% who oppose it (+40% support).
Looking at what the public think the purpose of a wealth tax would be a quarter (25%) think it would be to reduce inequality compared to 36% who think it would be raise additional revenue fairly.
The same poll found Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rating has fallen by 6 points to -41%. This is the current prime minister’s lowest ever approval rating according to an Opinium poll. There have only been three times in recent years a party leader has had worse approval ratings from the public. They include: Liz Truss after the fallout of the mini budget (-72%, 19/10/2022)
Boris Johnson when he resigned as Tory party leader (-44%, 06/07/2022)
Boris Johnson immediately after Partygate (-42%, 12/01/2022)
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Furthermore, barely two in five (41%) of Starmer’s own voters, 2024 Labour voters, approve of the job he is doing.
Looking elsewhere at Stamer’s cabinet, Rachel Reeves’ approval rating amongst the public has also fallen to -39% (-2).
Kemi Badenoch has had a comparatively good week – although still strongly disapproved of overall, her approval score has risen by 6 points to -19%. Nigel Farage’s approvals have also dropped slightly to -12%.
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