Rayner urged Reeves to consider wealth tax rises before spring statement

The memo is likely to be seen as Rayner staking out ground for Labour’s left wing within a cabinet increasingly shaped by Starmer-aligned centrists. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Angela Rayner urged Rachel Reeves to consider a series of wealth tax rises, it has been revealed, in a move that underscores growing unease within the government over the chancellor’s tight spending plans.

A memo sent by the deputy prime minister to the chancellor before March’s spring statement proposed eight tax measures worth an estimated £3bn to £4bn a year, including reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and increasing the corporation tax rate for banks.