This is my letter to the Saturday Telegraph:
A fair tax on wealth
SIR – There has been a lot of debate about whether to tax income or wealth in the forthcoming Budget. I believe anyone on the minimum wage working a full week should not pay income tax, and we must find a way to exempt them.
I think that a type of mansion tax is the sensible way to pay for this. A bit of extra tax on properties over £2 million seems perfectly fair to me, especially given the huge benefits to the poorest in society.
The average house price in the UK is £161,545. In the North East, where my constituency of Hexham is, it is £102,066. At what point did it become “Conservative” to worry about those with a £2 million house, before those struggling to pay a £100,000 mortgage?
Too often we are talking about the 50p rate of income tax. We should be the party of the strivers, of aspiration, of helping those who want to get on in life. These are the principles and priorities that we must focus on. These are the people who must benefit from Wednesday’s Budget.
Guy Opperman MP (Con)
