Andy Burnham finally admitted that more tax hikes are coming and to make it worse he revealed the bad news in a chat with Gary Lineker. In many ways it is not a surprise that the man who enters No 10 on the back of a bloodless coup should shun scrutiny by MPs and journalists in favour of a cosy catch up with a retired footballer.
Promises of Change vs. Reality
But let’s not forget that this is the man who has promised repeatedly that he was going to do politics differently. Choosing to give the first interview once it was certain he would become Prime Minister to a man so toxic to so many people that it led to the collapse of his BBC career showed astonishing arrogance. He clearly has little interest in reaching out across the political divide.
Burnham has bypassed all of the usual processes that put candidates who want to lead the country through their paces. He will not even face a grilling in the Commons until September. Instead, Burnham is pumping out carefully curated social media videos promoting himself like a celebrity. This week we have learnt whether he puts the milk in first in his tea (he does) and if he is pro wearing socks with sandals (he is).
More Tax Hikes Inevitable
It’s such an insult that we know more about our next PM’s favourite albums, opinions on VAR and his sartorial habits than we do what his plans are when he takes over running the country on Monday. All we do know is that more tax hikes are inevitable. But reforms that could leave families thousands of pounds worse off were merely given a passing reference in the exchanges with Lineker in between the football banter.
When the pundit asked if a wealth tax was being planned, Burnham said: "I'm not going rule things out right now. I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness." He added "decisions to be taken in time" were "going to be difficult". "I'm not going to shy away from that," Burnham said. "You know, we are going to have to work quite hard to make sure, you know, we can pay our way. And at some point that might be having to ask for a little more. But, you know, those decisions are not for now. They're for another day."
Targeting the Striving Classes
Wealth taxes are on the way but it won’t be the super rich that suffer. It’s the striving classes Burnham has in his sights. Last year he said there is “definitely a case” for reintroducing the 50p top rate of income tax, which would hit the biggest earners. But more broadly he believes that the UK over taxes work and under‑taxes assets.
Burnham has previously backed campaign group Fairer Share’s calls for stamp duty and council tax to be replaced with a tax that works out to 0.48% of the value of a property. Experts warn that while most of the country would come out better off it would lead to a significant increase in bills in London and the south east. The knock on impact would also likely be a major overnight fall in house prices there but a dramatic increase everywhere else.
Death Taxes and Inheritance Blow
Living is likely to become more expensive for many but the cost of dying could be even worse with new death taxes a possibility. Burnham has advocated for a staggering 10% levy to be applied on all estates to fund social care. He is also said to be considering ending the Capital Gains Tax uplift on inherited assets. Beneficiaries are currently only taxed on the increase in value of a home from the point of death to sale. Instead, the increase in value from the time it was bought would become taxable, leaving families with an administrative nightmare and an enormous bill. Anyone relying on an inheritance to fund their own later years better start making alternative arrangements.
No Mandate for Tax Hikes
Reform has called for Burnham to actually say whether he intends to press ahead with the many taxes he has backed in recent years and warned he has no mandate for any of them. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was telling that before he had even taken office Burnham was “already talking about raising your taxes again". The Labour leader promised a new kind of politics, but did what his party always does, reach for more taxes while hiding behind spin.
