The Fabian Society’s Joe Dromey could not be more wrong in arguing that the Labour leadership should attack the Greens and Reform UK as representing “twin populisms” (Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society, 31 December). Dromey dismisses the Green party’s support for a wealth tax as a “fantasy” policy. Yet this is a policy that eight in 10 Labour voters support. I have been campaigning for wealth taxes for years, and large numbers of Labour MPs now back such a measure.
Dromey argues that a wealth tax could not fund all the investment we need in our communities. But that is not an argument against it, but to make it part of a wider package of reforms to tackle the deep inequality that scars our society. A wealth tax of 2% on assets over £10m could raise £24bn a year. Equalising capital gains tax rates with income tax and imposing a windfall tax on the super-profits of the banks could take that total closer to £50bn.
