Labour MP Heidi Alexander declined to confirm or deny whether the Government would impose a wealth tax on the nation’s high earners
Heidi Alexander refused to give a direct answer about the wealth tax (Image: LBC)
LBC took a tense turn as presenter Nick Ferrari welcomed Labour’s Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on his breakfast radio programme. During their conversation, the broadcaster asked the MP directly: “Can you clarify once and for all, is the Labour government considering a wealth tax, yes or no?”
This comes after former Labour leader Neil Kinnock suggested that imposing a 2% tax on assets valued above £10million would bring in up to £11billion a year. After Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s spokesperson would not say if they would or wouldn’t tax the wealthiest, Alexander also struggled to give Nick a straight answer. Instead, the MP said: “Some of the decisions that we’ve taken in the last year, we have asked those with the broadest shoulders to carry the greatest burden.”
LBC’s Nick Ferrari grilled the MP about the wealth tax (Image: LBC)
After Nick interjected: “So, it is looking at this?” Alexander brushed off the interruption and continued: “If you think about the changes we made to the non-dom tax.
“We’ve asked those who send their children to private school to pay a bit more because we have taken away their tax breaks,” she added.
In another attempt to get a direct answer, Nick asked: “So it is under consideration?” Yet the MP stuttered: “That they used to get when they sent their children to private school.”
She went on: “I think fairness needs to be the guiding principle in the way we approach decisions around taxation.”
Alexander added: “But we also need to do that in a way which balances the contribution that entrepreneurs can make to growing the economy.
“And so this government will always take decisions in the national interest, and we’re determined to get the economy firing on all cylinders again.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves earlier this year insisted she would not impose a wealth tax in her autumn budget, something she also said in 2023 ahead of Labour’s election victory last year.
However, the government has also imposed U-turns, such as the winter fuel payments and the welfare bills, which have reduced the chancellor’s £9.9bn budget.
