After 125 years, Labour should be adept at arguing for redistributing resources from the rich to the rest. Its founding conference in 1900 called for a distinct Labour group to promote legislation in the direct interests of the working class. Creating a more egalitarian society was Labour's original purpose, yet Britain remains highly unequal, more so than Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. The children's commissioner recently noted 'almost Dickensian levels of poverty' among some British children, while the rich have enjoyed a long boom since the Conservatives abolished the top 60% income tax rate 37 years ago.
The current Labour government has proposed modest redistributive reforms: removing non-dom tax privileges, imposing VAT on private schools, ending the inheritance tax exemption for farmers, removing the winter fuel allowance from wealthier pensioners, and reducing landlord-tenant power imbalances. However, amid controversy, Labour has made the argument for greater equality too quietly or not at all.
Populism has familiarised voters with the idea that elites have too much and the majority too little. The British Social Attitudes survey shows support for redistribution has risen from under a third to almost half over 20 years—twice the size of Labour's current support. Yet the government uses bland language like 'country first, party second' and 'working people' rather than 'working class'. Keir Starmer promises 'security' without saying employers create insecurity, and Rachel Reeves insists on better productivity without mentioning redistribution.
Labour's awkwardness about redistribution stems partly from the mid-1970s, when Harold Wilson's government imposed a 98% combined income and investment tax rate on the highest earners. The absence of redistributive arguments makes the government seem unconvincing and inauthentic. Most voters know Labour takes from the privileged to give to the less well-off, so pretending otherwise appears dishonest. This evasiveness leaves the ground unprepared for necessary tax rises on the rich, which this autumn's budget may require.
