{"id":358242,"date":"2026-01-08T03:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358242\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T03:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T03:40:07","slug":"its-unwise-for-labour-to-attack-the-green-party-and-its-wealth-tax-proposal-labour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/358242\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s unwise for Labour to attack the Green party and its wealth tax proposal | Labour"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Fabian Society\u2019s Joe Dromey could not be more wrong in arguing that the Labour leadership should attack the Greens and Reform UK as representing \u201ctwin populisms\u201d (Zack Polanski offering voters fantasy solutions, says head of Fabian Society, 31 December<\/a>). Dromey dismisses the Green party\u2019s support for a wealth tax as a \u201cfantasy\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u00a310m could raise \u00a324bn<\/a> 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 \u00a350bn.<\/p>\n

This would not only provide vital resources to support people still hit hard by the cost of living crisis and to fund our public services. It would also send a clear signal that a Labour<\/a> government is prepared to act against our broken economic model.<\/p>\n

While a tiny elite get ever richer, the living standards of the vast majority have stagnated since the bankers crashed the economy over 15 years ago. With growth weak and unlikely to improve without structural change, Labour must grasp the nettle of redistribution.<\/p>\n

Dromey\u2019s approach is also a political dead end. Labour is losing more voters to the Greens, and to those saying they will not vote, than it is to Reform. Losing those voters risks opening the door to Reform victories. Calling on the Labour leadership to reject popular social democratic policies is not only a moral mistake but an electoral one.
Richard Burgon MP
Labour, Leeds East<\/p>\n

Joe Dromey makes several valid observations regarding the twin challenges facing the Labour party from the Green party and Reform. But I think he has to some extent missed the point. Relatively few Green voters believe that solving the intractable problems of the UK economy is as simple as taxing billionaires. Rather, this policy serves as a signpost to the Green priority of addressing wealth inequality, which has climbed to near-Victorian levels \u2013 the top fifth now own two-thirds of UK wealth<\/a>. The Greens have policies to address this issue; Labour does not.<\/p>\n

More than that, what attracts younger voters like me to the Greens is Polanski\u2019s positivity. He clearly believes we can be better, that UK voters deserve a better deal. Labour won a landslide majority in 2024 and immediately began doom-mongering about the dire state of the economy. Evidently, it believed it was 2010, when claims about empty coffers were de rigueur.<\/p>\n

It is not 2010, it is 2025, and after a decade and a half of relentless austerity and negativity, many voters are looking for a glimmer of hope. If the Fabian\u00a0Society and the wider Labour party wish to head off the twin threats at their door, they\u2019d do well to stir some up, instead of marching under a banner reading \u201cBetter things aren\u2019t possible\u201d.
Adam Osborne
Bristol<\/p>\n

There can be no greater proof of Zack Polanski\u2019s successful cut-through than that the Fabian Society now sees the Green party as a threat. Alas for Labour, which has long provided reasons why some of its otherwise natural heartland continue to vote elsewhere.
John Gray
York <\/p>\n

Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please email<\/a> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters<\/a> section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Fabian Society\u2019s Joe Dromey could not be more wrong in arguing that the Labour leadership should attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-358242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}