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Hands off our homes!
Theyâve come for the farms. Theyâve come for the family business. Now, ministers are eyeing up the family home. As our increasingly desperate chancellor scrambles around to fill the ÂŁ50 billion black hole in her budget, her latest not-so-bright idea is to levy a new tax on family homes.
The central proposal, based on a report from the Onward think tank, seems to be that a new property tax will be levied on homes as a replacement for council tax and stamp duty land tax. On the face of it, that might not be such a bad idea. It could well simplify the system and ease some of the problems in the housing market (give a listen to this weekâs episode of a nation of taxpayers below for more on that one).
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But the lightest of scratches beneath the surface show Labourâs interpretation of this plan looks like itâll be a wealth ta ([link removed]) x in all but name that hammers homeowners, particularly the âasset-rich cash-poorâ, who will find themselves clobbered as a result of the increase in house prices weâve seen over the last few decades.
In an explainer thread ([link removed]) on X, Elliot Keck highlighted âIf you do apply the tax to everyone, then what youâre introducing is a wealth tax in all but name. And given itâs levied at the relatively low level of ÂŁ500,000, it would amount to a family home tax.â Following up in the Telegraph, Elliot called out this plan for what it is ([link removed]) : âA wealth tax that allows cowardly politicians to temporarily delay the confrontation with reality they need: the fact that we simply cannot go on spending the way we are.â
Rounding off a tour de force of opposition, Elliot took to the airwaves when he spoke to Mike Graham ([link removed]) on Talk explaining to listeners: âThereâs an element of class war about it. I think the government are looking at the middle class with contempt and loathing and they want to force them out of their homes and hand over some of their wealth to the state.â
An Englishmanâs home is his castle as the saying goes, itâs not a means for beleaguered chancellors to punish hard working families in a desperate bid to plug the hole created by her own incompetence and refusal to get spending under control. Thatâs why weâre calling on you to write to your MP using our handy tool ([link removed]) to make your opposition to the family homes tax clear before Reeves puts her disastrous plan into action.
Our tax system is well overdue a radical overhaul, but any simplifications must at least be revenue neutral and should really be easing the record-high tax burden Brits are struggling under.
Help the TPA continue standing up for taxpayers by clicking here to donate ([link removed])
Britainâs most hated small tax
On this weekâs episode of a nation of taxpayers, Duncan Barkes hosted what he called a âclash of the tax titansâ as four of us piled into the TPA studio to make our cases for which small tax we hate the most and why it should be scrapped.
Maurice Cousins from Net Zero Watch ([link removed]) , Maxwell Marlow of the Adam Smith Institute ([link removed]) and YIMBY Initiative ([link removed]) , joined Callum McGoldrick and myself in making our two minute pitches followed by some cross-examination, before voting for Britainâs worst small tax.
Find out who won by listening to the latest episode of a nation of taxpayers on Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , and YouTube ([link removed]) .
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Weâre going backwards on migration
Another week, another set of poor migration statistics. Far from getting the numbers crossing the channel and housed in hotels down, there are now nearly 2,500 more migrants in hotels than when Labour came to office. This is an eight per cent increase despite the governmentâs pledge to âsmash the gangsâ and end the use of hotels. ([link removed]) Meanwhile, just four per cent of those arriving in small boats have been returned since 2018.
Of course, as John OâConnell and Rory McGregor wrote last week ([link removed]) , the only way to really get this problem under control is to leave the ECHR. In case you missed it, have a read of their piece here ([link removed]) .
Naturally with the growing cost falling on the shoulders of taxpayers, it was a key part of what William Yarwood spoke about when he visited the Reform UK branch in Altrincham and Sale West.
If youâd like a TPA spokesman to come and speak to your organisation, get in touch (mailto:
[email protected]?subject=TPA%20speakers) .
Foamy Finances: Why Your Pint Costs More Than It Should
If youâve visited your local recently, youâll know just how much a pint of your favourite tipple seems to be leaving a bit more of a dent in your wallet than it once did. But whatâs actually driving the prices of our pints? In a post on the TPA blog ([link removed]) , political commentator, Benjamin, Byung Hoon, Ko, points the finger firmly at tax.
As Benjamin writes: âA pint ÂŁ5.50 will have ÂŁ0.54 of beer duty and ÂŁ0.92 of VAT, which translates to a quarter of the cost of the pint being tax. Thatâs before you apportion business rates⊠Britainâs beer drinkers are paying over the odds because the Treasury is hooked on the pipe dream of higher beer duty meaning higher duty revenue. However, the reality is the complete opposite. The governmentâs unreasonably high beer duty only results in the loss of pubs, jobs, and communities, for short-term tax grabs.â Have a read of Benjaminâs post here ([link removed]) .
The national debt skyrockets
Migration and the price of a pint arenât the only things on the up, the national debt has shot up by a whopping ÂŁ186 billion in Labourâs first year in office. TPA analysis ([link removed]) this week revealed the shocking state of the public finances. Like their predecessors, ministers seem in no hurry to get spending under control.
These latest figures show the current government has added ÂŁ6,510 to every householdâs share of the national debt. Every taxpayer is now on the hook for an eye-watering ÂŁ73,171! Thereâs no way to sugarcoat it, this is an intergenerational burden that will see our children and grandchildren paying for the borrowing of today. You can see the current level of the national debt on our Debt Clock here ([link removed]) .
Darwin Friend summed it up perfectly ([link removed]) when he told the Daily Mail: âThe fundamental truth is that Britain has a borrowing problem because politicians have a chronic spending addiction.â Our findings were also the focus of Harvey Jonesâ op-ed in the Express which you can read here ([link removed]) .
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Elliot sat down in the GB News studio (he had a busy week didnât he) blasting ([link removed]) : âDebt interest alone is now at about ÂŁ110 billion a year⊠This government came in saying that they really cared about the finances but since then all theyâve done is spend like thereâs no tomorrow!â
Wanting to tackle our countryâs spending addiction isnât based on some niche economic theory or fringe conspiracy . The debt burden is simply unsustainable and successive governments have failed to grapple with it. Bringing down our enormous debt must now become a national priority!
A closer look at âA Minimum Income Standard for Studentsâ
When we saw a report claiming students need a minimum of ÂŁ61,000 over the course of their degrees to enjoy a socially acceptable standard of living, itâs fair to say it raised some eyebrows in the TPA office. With only 56 per cent of graduates now expected to pay back their loans ([link removed]) , taxpayers are already on the hook for an extraordinary bill.
So what is actually meant by âa minimum income standard for studentsâ? Shimeon Lee takes a look in this weekâs blog ([link removed]) .
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The definition of âminimumâ is highly questionable as Shimeon notes: âAmong the items needed to maintain this âminimumâ with quote âno nice to havesâ are a 40 inch television (split among flatmates), a Bluetooth speaker, wireless headphones, a full length mirror, fancy dress, mattress protector and topper, a weekend holdall (separate from an everyday backpack), as well as an âabove-entry-levelâ laptop (with at least 8GB of RAM).â And thatâs before a budget of more than ÂŁ500 is allocated for alcohol pre-drinks. Have a read of Shimeonâs takedown of these absurd ideas here ([link removed]) .
War on Waste
A new investigation from Joanna Marchong, reveals that the Foreign Office lost almost 30,000 working days to sickness in 2023-24 ([link removed]) . A rise of 51 per cent on the previous year. Even more staggeringly, absences linked to mental health issues soared by 77 per cent, with 8,399 days written off and a sharp jump in the number of staff signed off entirely.
Get the full rundown of Joannaâs findings here ([link removed]) .
Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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