Wealth tax to sate those on Left would be backward step

THE MANTRA "tax the rich" runs deep in the Labour Party's DNA.

- Duncan Barkes

Wealth creators should be rewarded, not punished, but the idea of a new wealth tax is gaining growing support in Labour. A whopping 89% of party members polled by Survation voiced support for some form of a tax on the rich.

MPs and unions continue to make supportive noises about introducing such a measure as a way of getting more cash into the Treasury's coffers as Rachel Reeves scratches around for dosh after trashing the economy since coming to power.

Some MPs clearly think it would give them something to tell constituents about when they complain about cuts to the welfare state.

Other people and organisations backing the idea include Oxfam, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, Ecotricity founder Dale Vince and Gary Stevenson - a former city trader turned economic inequality activist. The amusingly titled Patriotic Millionaires UK also favour a wealth tax as part of their mission to "build a better Britain by changing the system to end extreme wealth and make those with it make their fair and proper contribution".

While this might make a feel good mission statement, it ignores the fact that those who have wealth or have created wealth have already been taxed on it through multiple means, including value added tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty and council tax.