How Rachel Reeves could balance Britain’s books and lower inequality | Letters
Rachel Reeves has said that higher taxes on the wealthy will be a part of the story at the autumn budget (Report, 15 October),The government must use this moment to ensure that the super-rich contribute their fair share rather than cutting services that impact the poorest and most marginalised,We all want the same things: thriving communities, good jobs and a future that we can look to with hope,But the rules have been rigged by the super-rich and powerful, allowing them to hoard wealth while the rest of us scrape by,This is fuelling division at a time when people desperately need meaningful change.
I work with MPs from all parties, trade unions, thinktanks and millionaires to make the tax system fairer,Here’s how the chancellor can raise tens of billions to invest in the country and rebuild trust in politics and one another:1) Reforming capital gains tax by equalising rates with income tax will treat income from work and wealth the same, while removing unfair loopholes,So will applying national insurance contributions to income from investments,Why should a nurse or teacher or factory worker pay it while someone renting out five houses pays nothing?2) End tax breaks for oil and gas companies, and private equity bosses, and properly resource HMRC to tackle tax abuse and costly loopholes,Together, these changes could raise around £30bn a year.
3) Reeves could raise more, while tackling inequality, through a modest wealth tax on the super-rich.Just 2% on net assets over £10m – affecting about 20,000 people – would raise more than £20bn annually, which could make childcare affordable, revitalise high streets and improve lives.The chancellor has the solutions at her fingertips.Now she needs the political will to make them happen.Caitlin BoswellHead of advocacy and policy, Tax Justice UK I recall in the 1940s and 1950s my wealthy grandfather complaining that his top rate of income tax was 90%.
I was a beneficiary of that as he set up two trusts in retaliation: one for the private education of me and my three siblings, and one for his two sisters to help with their living expenses,But the country would not have seen the huge increase in social housing after the war, or the establishment of the National Health Service, without a progressive tax system,Despite his legal income tax reductions through establishing trusts, grandad still died a wealthy man,With such obscene social inequality today, it is absurd for a Labour chancellor to reject a wealth tax and progressive income tax comparable to what my grandad paid,Why was income tax for the wealthy reduced so drastically from the 1980s? It’s not as if the need for social housing disappeared or the rising costs of the NHS evaporated.
Rachel SharpLondon So Rachel Reeves thinks that those with the broadest shoulders should pay a fair share of tax (Report, 16 October).I’m wondering if the royal family is getting nervous.Will we see them paying inheritance tax, for instance? What next? Their wills being available to the public? I’m not holding my breath.Dr Tim OwenNewcastle upon Tyne If taxation is ever going to be freed from the damaging perception that it is a “burden” rather than social good, it must first ditch the misleading metaphors designed to ease pain.If Rachel Reeves really believes that tax is a “fair share” issue, there is no need for special pleading.
Talk of “broad shoulders” unhelpfully implies an act of altruism or even heroism from those who possess them.I’m pretty sure they don’t need to feel saintly as well as wealthy.Paul McGilchristCromer, Norfolk Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
England delay team reveal for latest T20 with weather forcing training indoors
England’s preparations for a hot, dry T20 World Cup in India in February brought them on Wednesday to a cool, drizzly Auckland, where they were forced to conduct the final training session before their third game against New Zealand indoors. It is not always obvious what purpose these bilateral series serve, what useful lessons could possibly be being learned – but on this occasion, for at least one of the players, that is not an issue.Tom Banton says he is “still learning now”, and if it is the kind of line regularly trotted out even by players who have long since scaled the pinnacle of their sport in his case it is undeniably true. After forging his reputation as a top-order batter, mostly as an opener, Banton suddenly finds himself in a completely unfamiliar role, coming in at five or six. “There weren’t really too many conversations,” he said
Claudia Moloney-MacDonald: ‘Winning the World Cup was monumental – much bigger than us’
Saying the team comes first is one thing. Actually meaning it, and backing up that simple statement with action, is quite another. When the England wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald says the team were more important than personal ambition during the Women’s Rugby World Cup, you can’t escape the feeling she really means it.There is no better illustration of England’s squad depth than the fact Moloney-MacDonald was not a regular starter in August and September. She returned from a hamstring injury to face Samoa in the pool stage, scoring in England’s 92-3 win, but did not make John Mitchell’s matchday squad again as the hosts plotted a path to victory
The Spin | The Shane Warne effect: why some cricketers are loved by fans of their fiercest rivals
Rivalries are hard and real in cricket but the game’s capacity for fluctuating, compelling narratives creates heroes out of foesAt the most famous cricket ground in the world, inside the sport’s most revered pavilion, there is a lifesize painting of a man who terrorised English cricket for 15 years. Across the manicured green turf at Lord’s, inside cricket’s most celebrated media centre, the main commentary box is named after this generational tormentor. About 84 miles away, at the Rose Bowl near Southampton, an entire stand bears his name.English cricket has every reason to hate Shane Warne. In 36 Ashes Tests he bagged 195 wickets at an average of 23
Kevin Muscat remains on course to follow in Postecoglou’s footsteps despite fiasco | John Duerden
A week ago it looked as if there were going to be two Australians in prominent head coaching roles in the UK. But then Ange Postecoglou was fired by Nottingham Forest and Kevin Muscat’s move to Rangers collapsed. Postecoglou has much thinking to do, but there is no reason for Muscat to wait much longer to make his move to Europe.According to reports, a return to Glasgow to the club where Muscat won the treble as a player in 2003 was nixed as he wanted to finish the three remaining games of the Chinese Super League season with leaders Shanghai Port. If so, Muscat is to be commended, but even if he fails to deliver another league title in the next month, his options in Europe should not be limited to former clubs
Jets owner outlines hopes for team: ‘If we can complete a pass, it would look good’
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson has outlined modest ambitions for his winless team as he backed his head coach, Aaron Glenn.The Jets are 0-7 this season and have been awful in almost every department. Speaking about the team’s play on Tuesday, Johnson said: “If we can just complete a pass, it would look good.”However, he was quick to praise Glenn, who is in his first season as an NFL head coach. “I do believe in Aaron,” Johnson said
Amy Jones and England cannot avoid Ashes’ shadow over Australia rematch
Amy Jones has claimed that January’s Ashes whitewash “hasn’t been a topic of discussion” before Wednesday’s World Cup clash between England and Australia. If you believe that, you will believe anything.Both teams have qualified for the semi-finals, so it could be argued that little will be at stake in Indore. That would be wrong. First, given the run of results in this World Cup, these sides are almost certain to finish first and second and therefore avoid a semi-final against each other – which means this game could well be a precursor to the final in Navi Mumbai on 2 November
‘I was working as a cook when it went to No 1’: how Norman Greenbaum made Spirit in the Sky
I can’t stop watching videos of people discovering Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil. Send help
‘London could 100% compete with Cannes’: Aids charity UK gala debut honours Tracey Emin
Champagne, celebs and artefacts: British Museum hosts first lavish ‘pink ball’ fundraiser
My cultural awakening: The Specials helped me to stop fixating on death
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