Poverty in Britain is firmly linked to the country’s mountain of private wealth – Labour must address this growing inequality
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Tuesday, September 5, 2023
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Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said that a Labour government would not raises taxes on wealth, capital gains or higher incomes.
Key Points:
- Labour’s shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said that a Labour government would not raises taxes on wealth, capital gains or higher incomes.
- She does not, she says, see “the way to prosperity as being through taxation.” Britain is asset rich.
- National wealth – a mix of property, business, financial and state assets – stands at almost seven times the size of the economy.
- Yet, the Labour party’s leaders have no declared plans – at least, as yet – to close this gap.
Radical thinking
- In its early history, Labour drew on a number of radical, egalitarian thinkers to develop the case for a greater level of equality including via common ownership of assets.
- Clement Attlee, who became prime minister immediately after the second world war, accepted that poverty was essentially due to inequality and excessive private ownership.
- He set out to reduce wealth inequality through a mix of higher taxes, nationalisation of key industries and a commitment to collectivism.
- The course of poverty and inequality is ultimately the outcome of the conflict over the spoils of economic activity.
Rising inequality
- The number of first-time home-buyers now stands at less than half its mid-1990s rate.
- The public’s ownership of corporate Britain has shrunk and is largely confined to the rich and affluent.
- They are displacing the share once held by UK pension and insurance funds.
- On the day of Thatcher’s death in 2013, he said he’d always aimed to build on her achievements, not reverse them.