The Makerfield by-election is less than three weeks away on Thursday 18 June. If Burnham gets into Parliament, it surely won’t be long before he replaces Keir Starmer as PM. That would give him plenty of time to pick his chancellor and prepare an autumn Budget. Exciting times for him. For taxpayers, it's another nightmare in the making. We’ve already endured two disastrous Budgets from chancellor Rachel Reeves. So far she’s hit Britain with £66billion in extra tax, £32billion in spending hikes and £140billion in borrowing. Incredibly, Burnham thinks she hasn’t gone far enough.
Like much of Labour, he acts as if governments can tax, spend and borrow without consequences. No wonder gilt yields soar and the pound falls at the thought of him as PM. So where would his tax barrage land? Before the 2024 election, Starmer and Reeves ruled out rises in the “big three” taxes of income tax, VAT and National Insurance. Reeves, of course, broke that promise twice. First, with a £26billion hike to employer's National Insurance, which businesses passed onto working people. Second, by extending the income tax threshold freeze to 2031, costing working people another £12billion.
Incredibly, Burnham is repeating the same big three pledge. Does he think we’re stupid? Actually, it doesn’t matter. We don’t get to vote.
He’s also contradicting himself, having said there’s “definitely a case” for hiking the additional rate of income tax from 45% to 50%. Still more punishment for aspiration, success and hard work. But the really big raid would come elsewhere.
Burnham repeatedly argues Britain “overtaxes labour and undertaxes wealth”. In practice, that means he'll go after our homes, savings, assets and inheritances. He’s backed higher council taxes on expensive properties, which would hammer homeowners in London and the South East.
He’s discussed replacing council tax altogether with some form of land value tax, after describing land in Britain as “undertaxed”. Nobody knows exactly how that would work yet. One thing is certain though. It'll cost taxpayers a fortune. Burnham has also backed broader property levies linked to land or rental values. He wants more inheritance tax too, in the shape of an even wider estate tax to fund social care. Another tax grab dressed up as reform.
In a bid to win over the left, he's also shown sympathy for one-off wealth taxes. Even though they're incredibly complex to administer and would drive still more wealth Britons abroad, eroding our tax base.
Businesses wouldn't escape either. Today, they're struggling with high taxes and rocketing costs. Burnham would add to their burden, possibly by hiking corporation tax. So where would all this money go?
Towards a bigger welfare state, higher public spending and nationalisation. All of which would destroy wealth, rather than create it. The IMF just warned we cannot keep hiking tax damaging growth, investment, hiring and ambition. Burnham will do it anyway. Because that's what Labour MPs, activists and the trade unions are demanding. As are Burnham’s backers Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband. Only voters in Makerfield can save us. If Burnham wins, taxpayers will be the losers.
