It’s the one question that was taboo among the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) just months ago: Should Britain implement a wealth tax?
Now, though, it is a serious option being considered by the Treasury after Labour MPs forced No 10 to water down its welfare cuts, which would have saved £5.5 billion.
Here are four signs it could finally become reality.
Calls from Labour heavyweights
In recent months, more and more Labour figures have been calling for a wealth tax.
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has called for the revenue raiser.
He told Sky News: “This is a country which is very substantially fed up with the fact that whatever happens in the world, whatever happens in the UK, the same interests come out on top, unscathed all the time, while everybody else is paying more for gutted services.”
And, Keir Starmer’s former transport secretary Louise Haigh.
Speaking at a conference organised by Compass, a Left-wing Labour pressure group, she said: “We must acknowledge that our tax system is perverse. It punishes earned income but barely touches the real driver of inequality, wealth.
“If we do that, we can finally move beyond a broken model where working people’s wages are topped up by tax credits and benefits, leaving bad employers and landlords to profit. We can move from a system of handouts for the rich to real investment for everyone else.”
Electoral loss
Campaign group Tax Justice UK has claimed Labour needed to implement a wealth tax or “risk losing the next election”.
A spokesperson for the group said: “A relatively small number of people have hoarded unbelievable fortunes while millions are struggling to get by and key services we all rely on are starved for the funding required to deliver what people need.
“As it stands, implementing a small number of changes to the existing tax system today – to tax wealth – would raise tens of billions of pounds.
“They should go further and levy a net wealth tax on the super-rich to boost public finances even more and get on with making Britain a country fit for the 21st century, where everyone’s needs are met or risk losing the next election.”
Comment from the prime minister’s spokesperson
Even the PM’s spokesperson has left the door open to this tax.
They said: “We have repeatedly said that those with the broadest shoulders should carry the greatest burden and the choices we’ve made reflect that.
“The top 1 per cent of taxpayers contribute nearly a third of income tax.
“Revenue from wealth and asset taxes like capital gains tax and inheritance tax go towards funding tens of billions of pounds for the public services.
“The government is committed to ensuring that the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax.”
Huge public support
And, finally… the public overwhelmingly supports a wealth tax on the super rich, including a majority of Tory and Reform voters, a YouGov poll has learnt.
According to the survey of over 4,000 adults, 75 per cent of Brits want to see it introduced.
Just 13 per cent of those surveyed expressed opposition to the policy.
Support for the policy cuts across party lines, according to Left Foot Forward: 88 per cent of Labour voters back the tax, along with 83 per cent of Lib Dems, 61 per cent of Conservative voters and even 55 per cent of Reform UK supporters!