DENIS HEALEY, the Labour chancellor of the exchequer in 1974-79, supposedly said that he wanted to squeeze the rich until the pips squeak. Thanks to New Labour’s conversion to the gospel of wealth, and the party’s dismal electoral record since in the post-Blair era, it is a long time since the nation echoed to the sound of squeaking. But the new Conservative government may be about to change that.
The government is said to be contemplating two radical moves in the budget due on March 11th—imposing a “mansion tax” on owners of expensive homes and cutting pension tax relief for higher earners. The mansion tax may take the form of an annual levy on expensive homes or a higher council tax band. The pension reform may mean cutting tax relief on people who earn more than £50,000 a year from 40% to 20% to raise an extra £10bn a year. Other raids on capital gains, inherited money and profits are reportedly being considered.
These particular speculations may be hot air, but there are other straws in the wind. Boris Johnson has publicly aired his ambivalence to business, and his manifesto commitment to revitalise competition policy—never a friend of capitalists—is already bearing fruit (see article).
In the longer term, two ineluctable forces will force him to raise taxes on the rich. The first is fiscal: the government needs to raise money to finance ambitious infrastructure projects such as the HS2 rail link to the north. The second is political: the government needs to revise its tax-and-spend policies to reflect the fact that the Tories are now the party of ex-mining towns such as Blyth as well as well-heeled shires such as Buckingham. To hold onto those northern gains, Johnsonian Conservatism will need to be more open-handed than the Cameroonian variety.
This points to one of the oddities at the heart of British politics: that even as the Tory party consolidates its grip on the country—it has been in power either as part of a coalition or in its own right since 2010 and is likely to remain so until 2025—politics is moving to the left, at least on economics. In 2015 the Tories mocked “Red Ed” Miliband for proposing crazy socialist measures such as nationalising railways and imposing a mansion tax. Now the government has nationalised Northern Rail, may do the same to other rail companies and is expected to bring the whole network under tighter state control.
The government’s embrace of Milibandism is causing alarm among Tory MPs (particularly in the more affluent parts of the country) and Tory activists (particularly on the Thatcherite right). The Bruges Group tweeted that “had we wanted Labour we’d have voted for Corybn”. The head of the Taxpayers’ Alliance has warned the government that voters want lower taxes and smaller government. The Daily Telegraph has run a series of splenetic articles and editorials, including one warning that the mansion tax might have a devastating impact on the owners of country estates, illustrated with a picture of a 40-bedroom Elizabethan country house and its unhappy-looking owner. There is more fury to come, as the party discovers that fulfilling Disraeli’s dream of One Nation Conservatism comes with a heavy price tag. ■
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Why Britain’s Conservative government is shifting leftward”
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
