Tax the rich more, Labour membership tells Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer is under growing pressure to introduce a wealth tax to fill a black hole in public finances, after new polling shows almost all Labour members back the move.

- MILLIE COOKE POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

The prime minister has been urged to adopt a “radical change of direction” after a survey, shared exclusively with The Independent, showed that 91 per cent of party members think the government should tax the rich more.

The survey comes after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner pressed Rachel Reeves to consider eight wealth taxes rather than impose cuts on departments in a leaked memo earlier this year.

Former shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds also weighed in, backing a wealth tax and warning that spending cuts will not “deliver the kind of fiscal room that is necessary”.

There are mounting questions over how the government will raise the money to fill the black hole in the public finances left by a series of major U-turns and spending commitments, with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research - a leading economic think tank - last month warning the chancellor is facing a £41.2bn shortfall.

Ministers have already squeezed their departmental funding in cuts unveiled at last month’s spending review, meaning most expect the chancellor will have no choice but to raise taxes instead.

The polling, conducted by Survation for Compass, also found 84 per cent of Labour members want the government should end the two-child benefit cap - a policy which is increasingly unpopular among Labour MPs.

Former Labour MP Jon Cruddas, founder of Labour Together and a former policy coordinator for Labour minister Ed Miliband, told