Reeves should put wealth tax on the budget table

‘Introducing a 2% tax on assets above £10m would raise up to £25bn annually to invest in health, housing, education and infrastructure.’ Photograph: Ace Stock Limited/Alamy

It now seems likely that Rachel Reeves will avoid the ignominy of becoming the first chancellor in more than half a century to raise the basic rate of income tax in her budget next Wednesday (Rachel Reeves plans £7.5bn tax rise in budget after U-turn on income tax rates, 14 November). That doesn’t mean we taxpayers won’t be hit elsewhere in the budget, though, including the possibility of stealth taxes through changes to thresholds.

But there is another option – one that is fair, popular with the public and supported by a significant number of Labour MPs: a wealth tax. Introducing a 2% tax on assets above £10m would raise up to £25bn annually to invest in health, housing, education and infrastructure. Polling shows that the idea is consistently popular with the public, and the people most likely to pay the tax, millionaires, also support the idea.