Labour has been warned against attacking the Green party's wealth tax proposal, after the Fabian Society's leader, Joe Dromey, described the Greens as a threat to be countered alongside Reform UK. In a letter to the editor, Labour MP Richard Burgon argued that Dromey was wrong to dismiss the wealth tax as a 'fantasy' policy, noting that eight in 10 Labour voters support it.
Burgon, who has campaigned for wealth taxes for years, said a 2% tax on assets over £10 million could raise £24 billion a year. Combined with equalising capital gains tax rates with income tax and imposing a windfall tax on bank super-profits, the total could reach £50 billion. He argued this would provide resources to support those hit by the cost of living crisis and fund public services, while signalling that a Labour government is prepared to act against the 'broken economic model'.
Another letter writer, Adam Osborne from Bristol, said Dromey had missed the point. He argued that the wealth tax policy serves as a signpost to the Green priority of addressing wealth inequality, which has reached near-Victorian levels. Osborne said younger voters are attracted to the Greens' positivity, contrasting it with Labour's 'doom-mongering' about the economy after winning a landslide majority in 2024.
John Gray from York noted that the Fabian Society's view of the Greens as a threat is proof of the party's successful cut-through, and that Labour has long provided reasons for its natural heartland to vote elsewhere.
