After pensioners, will Labour now come for the wealthy?

Remember when Peter Mandelson said Labour was "intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich"? He made his famous remark in 1998 to a California industrialist. He's softened since, now saying he is concerned about inequality. But if Mandelson is having doubts, some members of the current leadership of his party apparently have no qualms. They are definitely not happy about people making lots of money.

- CHRIS BLACKHURST

Furthermore, they’re sensing blood. The public purse is threadbare, and in their eyes, the well-off are there for the taking. While we’re not quite at the class war, “eat the rich” stage, we might as well be. They’re pushing Keir Starmer hard for a wealth tax.

The Tax Justice Network says a temporary levy on the richest households could raise £24bn a year. Sharon Graham, the leader of Unite, is urging the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to announce a 1 per cent charge on Britain’s wealthiest 1 per cent. She points out that it would bring in vastly more money for the Treasury than the winter fuel payment cut, which has now been voted in.

The pressure comes as the G20 is also looking at the ramifications of a global minimum tax on the world’s 3,000 billionaires. In the US, the presidential hopeful, Kamala Harris, is considering a wealth tax.

In the end, it may prove inevitable. Across the globe, public finances are struggling; meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor has widened and is widening still. The idea of taking away a sliver of people’s fortunes, so little that they would barely notice, is catching on. For Starmer, elected with a thumping majority, it has obvious appeal. They would not be Labour voters suffering; the rich would scream, but the party’s popularity would almost certainly not dip.