Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of being a Leader in Name Only after No10 sources told the Mail on Sunday the PM was being ‘bullied’ by the Treasury into introducing a mansion tax in the Budget.
According to the source, the premier was opposed to introducing the measure – out of concerns it would generate negative headlines about ‘little old ladies’ being turfed out of their homes – but was ignored.
Torsten Bell, the Treasury minister who is effectively writing the Budget for Ms Reeves, is understood to have argued that ‘some form of mansion tax has to happen‘.
While Sir Keir has been told he needs to impose the charges on homes worth £2 million or more to appease the party’s Left-wing.
He has been told the move is necessary as a ‘distraction tactic’ in order to ‘sell’ the Budget on November 26 as an attack on the wealthy rather than ‘working people’.
A No10 source said: ‘Keir argued privately that a mansion tax would be unfair on little old ladies who lived in large houses which have increased in value over decades but who did not have the disposable income to pay a new charge.
‘He also said that it would raise relatively little money in return for all the political hassle.
‘But Torsten was adamant that it has to happen in order to sell it to the backbenches, and Keir has basically been bullied into agreeing.’
In our last poll, Mail readers were asked: Do you agree that Starmer’s Britain is divided and culture is changing too fast?
Out of more than 34,000 votes, 99 per cent said ‘yes’ while 1 per cent said ‘no’.
