73% of MPs want to INCREASE taxes to fund public services. You got that, Rachel Reeves?

New polling of 101 MPs has found that nearly three quarters (73%) would prefer to increase taxes to fund public services. Just 12% preferred the same level of taxation with no improvement to public services. The new polling comes as the Labour Party and Rachel Reeves prepare for the Autumn Budget.

Rachel Reeves: increase taxes to fund public services

The findings are a result of a poll conducted by Survation, asking the question on behalf of Tax Justice UK. The results come ahead of the much anticipated Budget where the chancellor faces challenging decisions to stick within self-proscribed fiscal rules and manifesto pledges, while also repairing public services desperately in need of extra resources.

Last week it was reported that the chancellor Rachel Reeves needs to find as much as £40bn in the Autumn Budget to cover a reported overspend from the last government and to avoid real-terms spending cuts to government departments.

Among Labour MPs polled, 91% were in favour of higher taxes to improve public services which could prove a major boost for Rachel Reeves, or a potential challenge if no action is taken to improve the NHS and other key services.

Sara Hall, deputy director at Tax Justice UK said:

We have a government – and Parliament – that are overwhelmingly in favour of higher taxes to fix public services which have been left to run down over the last decade. Voters backed the government under a slogan of change, now it has a perfect opportunity to deliver in confidence. Taxing those with the broadest shoulders more will allow for investment that returns benefits for everyone and delivers a stronger, more resilient economy.

Five reforms to raise £50 billion

Brian Leishman MP for Alloa and Grangemouth of the 2024 Labour Party intake said:

Key services like the NHS, health care, social care, schools and local authorities have been starved of funding after years of austerity. Taxing extreme wealth can provide the money needed to deliver well-functioning public services that enrich us all. The Labour government, which I’m proud to support, has an opportunity to change society for the better.

Taxing corporations and the multi millionaire class with an Annual Wealth Tax is a positive step to closing inequality and making Britain a fairer place.

Tens of billions of pounds could be raised by the government in Rachel Reeves’s first Budget with just five reforms to the tax system. Tax Justice UK and Patriotic Millionaires UK show that over £50 billion a year could be raised from taxing the super-rich and closing down unfair tax loopholes.

Included among the five tax reforms to raise over £50 billion a year are:

• A 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million, raising up to £24 billion a year from the country’s 20,000 richest people.

• Taxing income from wealth at the same rate of work with:

  • Equalisation of capital gains tax with income tax, which could raise £14 billion a year;

  • Application of national insurance to investment income, raising up to £10.2 billion a year;

• Introduction of a 4% tax on share buybacks, raising approximately £2 billion a year.

• Closure of inheritance tax loopholes to raise £1.4 billion a year.

• Ending unfair tax reliefs for multinational corporations.

Rachel Reeves must “not punish ordinary people”

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party co-leader and MP for Waveney Valley said of Rachel Reeves’s budget:

As the government tries to find new sources of income for the Treasury to properly resource the NHS and essential public services, it is time that a wealth tax becomes part of that solution. The Chancellor has a multitude of options for her first budget, including to introduce a higher tax for the super-rich and the big banks.

Even a 2% tax on people with wealth and assets over £10million would make a huge difference. This Labour government has the chance to look in the right places and start making decisions that do not further punish ordinary people at a time when many this winter will be choosing between eating and heating their homes.

Featured image via the Canary