Here’s how Rachel Reeves could plug the black hole in Britain’s finances

Rachel Reeves in her office at No 11 Downing Street, London. ‘It is a damning statement on our democracy that such a vast issue can barrel towards us but be so utterly ignored.’ Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

The reported £20bn public finances black hole (Rachel Reeves expected to reveal £20bn shortfall in public finances, 25 July) represents substantially less than 1% of GDP. Easy ways to cover this gap include increasing council tax on the wealthiest – ie, in England, an extra £1bn each on bands F, G and H. An extra billion each from airport passenger duty, closing loopholes in capital gains tax and inheritance tax, taxing unused properties and land, and a tax on holiday lets, with much of the rest coming from a tax on profits made in the UK but offshored.

This could be combined with cuts, especially in the interest that the government pays on much of its borrowing, and the nuclear decommissioning programme, which is overengineered.
Mark Bill
Liverpool