Angela Rayner puts boot into Labour’s critics
Angela Rayner wasn’t wearing her trademark chunky boots when she addressed the TUC conference in Liverpool
But she put the boot into Labour’s trade union critics in a powerful speech, ending with a call for the unions to “come together, stand together and campaign side by side”.
No stilettos, either, just a pair of smart business shoes and a dress in a sober dark green colour. Preparing for government?
And her message was, if you want a Labour government, stop the carping and moaning, as she declared: “This country can’t survive another five years of Tory rule.”
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Her targets? Principally Unite’s Sharon Graham, who this week denounced Sir Keir Starmer’s policies as a “1990s tribute act”, and Mark Serworka of the PCS, who accused the Labour leader of breaking promises – suggesting he was untrustworthy.
The call for unity was all the more powerful coming from the Labour deputy, who told the unions she may have been born in Stockport, but she was “raised in the trade union movement”.
It wasn’t a message that would have the same resonance had it been delivered to the unions by Sir Keir, seen by critics as a slick north London lawyer whose claims of his own working-class roots are not always convincing.
When she was introduced before she delivered her speech, authentic Angy was hailed by TUC president Maria Exall as “one of us” and “Labour’s finest” – not the sort of introduction Sir Keir would have been greeted with.
The evening before her conference speech, the self-deprecating deputy leader had confessed that she was “no angel”, but vowed to “get things done”.
And she echoed that latter statement in her speech, promising to enact Labour’s New Deal for Working People – that is, in an Employment Rights Bill ” in the first 100 days of a Labour government.
“That’s a cast-iron commitment,” she said.
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Rayner on ‘Tory economic failure’
That was followed by a blizzard of pledges: banning zero-hours contracts, ending fire-and-rehire, family-friendly working, strengthening sick pay, ending the gender pay gap, tackling sexual harassment at work and more.
It was exactly what the unions wanted to hear and prompted Sir Keir, whose speech at the TUC’s gala dinner the previous evening was described to Sky News as “bland” by one union general secretary, to tweet that her speech was “brilliant”.
The Tory chairman, Greg Hands, however, claimed: “The mask has slipped. Despite Keir Starmer’s short-term promise to be pro-business, his deputy leader is committing to Labour’s paymasters that they will have more control over Britain’s economy.”
That’s not entirely fair. She said in her speech that Labour will “work hand in hand with trade unions as we will work with business”.
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Sharon Graham remains unrepentant about her criticism, however. She told Sky News after Rayner’s speech that Labour needs to be bolder.
“There can be no back-tracking on the agreed workers’ rights,” she said.
That’s harsh and a little unfair. There was no back-tracking in Ms Rayner’s speech. A cast-iron commitment couldn’t be clearer.
She is, after all, as the TUC president kindly pointed out, “one of us”.
The legislation to establish crypto market structure is one of three bills the US House of Representatives is expected to consider starting next week.
The idea of a wealth tax has raised its head – yet again – as the government attempts to balance its books.
Downing Street refused to rule out a wealth tax after former Labour leader Lord Kinnock told Sky News he thinks the government should introduce one.
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Lord Kinnock calls for ‘wealth tax’
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “The prime minister has repeatedly said those with the broadest shoulders should carry the largest burden.”
While there has never been a wealth tax in the UK, the notion was raised under Rishi Sunak after the COVID years – and rejected – and both Harold Wilson’s and James Callaghan’s Labour governments in the 1970s seriously considered implementing one.
Sky News looks at what a wealth tax is, how it could work in the UK, and which countries already have one.
Will Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer impose a wealth tax? Pic: PA
What is a wealth tax?
A wealth tax is aimed at reducing economic inequality to redistribute wealth and to raise revenue.
It is a direct levy on all, or most of, an individual’s, household’s or business’s total net wealth, rather than their income.
The tax typically includes the total market value of assets, including savings, investments, property and other forms of wealth – minus a person’s debts.
Unlike capital gains tax, which is paid when an asset is sold at a profit, a wealth tax is normally an annual charge based on the value of assets owned, even if they are not sold.
A one-off wealth tax, often used after major crises, could also be an option to raise a substantial amount of revenue in one go.
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Wealth tax would be a ‘mistake’
How could it work in the UK?
Advocates of a UK wealth tax, including Lord Kinnock, have proposed an annual 2% tax on wealth above £10m.
Wealth tax campaign group Tax Justice UK has calculated this would affect about 20,000 people – fewer than 0.04% of the population – and raise £24bn a year.
Because of how few people would pay it, Tax Justice says that would make it easy for HMRC to collect the tax.
The group proposes people self-declare asset values, backed up by a compliance team at HMRC who could have a register of assets.
Which countries have or have had a wealth tax?
In 1990, 12 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries had a net wealth tax, but just four have one now: Colombia, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.
France and Italy levy wealth taxes on selected assets.
Colombia
Since 2023, residents in the South American country are subject to tax on their worldwide wealth, but can exclude the value of their household up to 509m pesos (£92,500).
The tax is progressive, ranging from a 0.5% rate to 1.5% for the most wealthy until next year, then 1% for the wealthiest from 2027.
Bogota in Colombia, which has a wealth tax
Norway
There is a 0.525% municipal wealth tax for individuals with net wealth exceeding 1.7m kroner (about £125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses.
Norway also has a state wealth tax of 0.475% based on assets exceeding a net capital tax basis of 1.7m kroner (£125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses, and 0.575% for net wealth in excess of 20.7m kroner (£1.5m).
Norway has both a municipal and state wealth tax. Pic: Reuters
The maximum combined wealth tax rate is 1.1%.
The Norwegian Labour coalition government also increased dividend tax to 20% in 2023, and with the wealth tax, it prompted about 80 affluent business owners, with an estimated net worth of £40bn, to leave Norway.
Spain
Residents in Spain have to pay a progressive wealth tax on worldwide assets, with a €700,000 (£600,000) tax free allowance per person in most areas and homes up to €300,000 (£250,000) tax exempt.
Madrid in Spain. More than 12,000 multimillionaires have left the country since a wealth tax was increased in 2022. Pic: Reuters
The progressive rate goes from 0.2% for taxable income for assets of €167,129 (£144,000) up to 3.5% for taxable income of €10.6m (£9.146m) and above.
It has been reported that more than 12,000 multimillionaires have left Spain since the government introduced the higher levy at the end of 2022.
Switzerland
All of the country’s cantons (districts) have a net wealth tax based on a person’s taxable net worth – different to total net worth.
Zurich is Switzerland’s wealthiest city, and has its own wealth tax, as do other Swiss cantons. Pic: Reuters
It takes into account the balance of an individual’s worldwide gross assets, including bank account balances, bonds, shares, life insurances, cars, boats, properties, paintings, jewellery – minus debts.
Switzerland also works on a progressive rate, ranging from 0.3% to 0.5%, with a relatively low starting point at which people are taxed on their wealth, such as 50,000 CHF (£46,200) in several cantons.
The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.
Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.
Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.
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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.
Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.
Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.
British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.
Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.
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Inside the UK’s last blast furnaces
Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.
News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.
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Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.
“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”
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