‘TAX RICHEST BRITS’ PLEA TO GOVT

The Unite leader said Keir Starmer should ditch plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for 10 million pensioners and instead make millionaires pay more tax on their wealth.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham has urged Labour to slap a 1per cent tax on the wealthiest Brits instead of “pickpocketing” pensioners.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, she said Keir Starmer should ditch plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for 10m older people and instead make millionaires pay more. The Unite leader said a 1 per cent tax on the top 1 per cent in society could raise around £25bn a year, exceeding the £22bn black hole in the nation’s finances left behind by the Tories.

Ms Graham urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves not to slash public services in next month’s Budget, saying, “People are not going to accept austerity mark two.”

Unite, the country’s second largest union, will mount a push for a wealth tax at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) annual gathering as well as urging the Chancellor to rip up the rules to borrow to invest in infrastructure

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham spoke to the Sunday Mirror ahead of the TUC Congress.

“This whole piece around, ‘There is no money’. We’ve got a situation with pensioners being pick pocketed,” Ms Graham said ahead of the meeting of unions in Brighton. “At the same time you have the 50 richest families in Britain worth £500bn. That’s the same amount of money that half of Britain is worth.”

Ms Graham said Labour should introduce a new tax on wealth, rather than raising existing taxes like Captial Gains Tax.

It would affect “the top 1 per cent, broadly those people with £4 m clear and no mortgages. Anything over that they would be taxed 1% on.

“So if you had £6m and no mortgage, just clear assets and money, then it would be 1 per cent on your extra £2m.”

She said it was a mistake to axe the winter fuel allowance for all but the poorest pensioners, which has sparked fury from charities.

A Commons vote on Tuesday on the cut will be a major test for the government, with mounting unease among backbench MPs over the policy. Labour’s massive majority means it’s unlikely to be overturned but a rebellion would still prove a major headache for the PM.

Ms Graham said, “They should accept it’s an error – that’s what leadership is about, sometimes errors are made. Accept it’s an error, change course.

“Let’s really have a look about how we can have a much fairer society… Why are we making the choice to pit pensioners against workers?”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-must-tax-richest-brits-33620161

This article first appeared in the Sunday Mirror, September 8, 2024