Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that he is placing Britain on ‘the path to destitution’ by preparing a welter of tax rises in next month’s Budget.
With Chancellor Rachel Reeves repeatedly failing to rule out swingeing new wealth levies such as a mansion tax infamously proposed by Ed Miliband, fresh statistics reveal that a record number of high earners, who contribute the biggest share to the Treasury, are preparing to flee the country.
Ms Reeves has blamed a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances left by the Tory Government for the ‘difficult decisions’ which she will set out on October 30.
Treasury officials are studying options including increases in capital gains tax, inheritance tax and fuel duty, punitive cuts to pension tax relief for higher earners and other potential levies on those whom Sir Keir says ‘have the broadest shoulders’.
In addition, ‘nanny state’ measures such as further potential junk food taxes and a packaging charge for glass bottles are adding to the huge strain on business, who would inevitably be forced to pass on the costs to customers.
Last night, Robert Jenrick, who won the first round of the Tory leadership contest last week, said: ‘We’ve got to stop this slow march to Britain’s destitution under Starmer.’
His comment came as the Prime Minister also prepares to blame the Tories for leaving the NHS in a ‘broken’ state.
Sir Keir will this week release the findings of a review into the NHS, chaired by Lord Darzi of Denham, a leading surgeon and former health minister, which is expected to act as the springboard for a ten-year Government plan for ‘fixing’ the service.
A ‘mansion tax’ proposed by the then-Labour leader Ed Miliband at the 2015 general election would have levied an annual charge on owners of properties worth more than £2 million.
Under his plan, the owners of a £3 million home would face a charge of around £10,000 a year, raising £1.7 billion annually.
Asked whether a version of the mansion tax could be introduced in the Budget, a Treasury spokesman said: ‘The Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22 billion hole in the public finances left by the last Government. Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget.’
Henley & Partners, which helps wealthy investors to move overseas, estimates that Britain is on track to lose a record 9,500 millionaires this year, more than any country except China.
Its analysis found that the UK suffered a net loss of 4,200 millionaires in the first five months of this year, with a further 5,300 expected to go before January. The most popular destinations are Dubai, Switzerland and Portugal.
The Times reported yesterday that one company offering relocation services to the wealthy recorded a 69 per cent jump in enquiries in August compared with a year earlier.
The number of transactions in the high-end property market is slumping as wealthy buyers delay committing themselves.
Charlie Mullins, the founder of Pimlico Plumbers, became the most high profile tax emigrant yesterday when he said he was putting his £12 million London penthouse up for sale as he prepared to flee the UK to avoid Labour’s tax raid.
Mr Mullins, who bought the flat with his windfall from the £145 million sale of his business in 2021, said he was ready to move to Spain and Dubai and have ‘no assets in the UK whatsoever’.
He said: ‘I’ll have no investments here, no bank account here. It’s all in the process now. I think my last tax bill is January and that’s me done.’
According to House of Commons statistics, the top ten per cent of income tax payers contribute more than 60 per cent of all income tax receipts.
An exodus of wealthy taxpayers could mean that Ms Reeves’ measures could lead to a net fall in revenue for the Treasury.
A proposed packaging tax will add as much as 9p to the cost of glass bottles, while new ‘sin taxes’ on convenience foods and chocolate, cakes and crisps are being considered.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir faces a Commons rebellion against the move to axe millions of pensioners’ winter fuel payments, with up to 30 Labour MPs set to vote against the Government this week.
Mr Jenrick said that the combination of tax rises and cuts in winter fuel payments for pensioners could lead to ‘the bleakest winter in decades’.
The Newark MP said: ‘Sir Keir Starmer lacks any vision for our great country. He’s always talking us down and is determined to hit middle-class people with huge tax rises so he can pay off his union paymasters. That’s despite him inheriting the fastest-growing economy in the G7 and inflation back under control after the pandemic.
‘We’ve seen him cut winter fuel payments for ten million pensioners, just as energy prices shoot up another 10 per cent. He’s like the Grinch. But not only is he ruining Christmas, he’s actually endangering people’s lives.
‘The tax burden is already too high. Working people are struggling. But Sir Keir is now splashing out billions for Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s fantasy green energy plans and to satisfy his union paymasters by taking from the rest.
‘It’s completely unfair. It looks as if pensioners will lose pension relief, people hit by increases in capital gains tax will be forced to sell their homes and there could even be hikes in fuel duty when we already pay some of the highest prices at the pump.
‘Sir Keir and his bunch of student socialist ministers seem determined to sabotage our economic recovery.’