Wes Streeting Backs £12 Billion Capital Gains Tax Overhaul in Labour Leadership Pitch
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 21
Wes Streeting Backs £12 Billion Capital Gains Tax Overhaul in Labour Leadership Pitch
2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 21
£12 billion a year is what Wes Streeting says Labour could raise by aligning capital gains tax rates with income tax in his first major leadership-campaign policy.
Streeting wants capital gains taxed at 20%, 40% and 45% bands, with income and asset profits combined to set the rate, while closing loopholes that let earnings from work be treated as gains.
Lower capital gains rates would still be offered to what he called genuine entrepreneurs, as he argued the current system rewards wealth over work and should better target risk-taking investment.
The proposal follows Streeting's resignation as health secretary last week and his declaration to Keir Starmer that he would challenge for the Labour leadership, though he has not yet triggered a contest requiring 81 Labour MPs.
His tax plan is part of a broader leadership pitch after he accused the government of lacking direction, while also distancing himself from Peter Mandelson and repeating that any UK return to the EU would need clear public backing.
Could Wes Streeting's 'wealth tax that works' actually drive investment and millionaires out of the United Kingdom?
How would Streeting convince 27 EU nations and British voters to approve rejoining the bloc after such a costly Brexit?
With top aides fired over the Mandelson scandal, can Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership survive this challenge?