France's lower house on Friday rejected a wealth tax proposed by the left, which has threatened to bring down the government if a levy on the super-rich is not in the budget. France is under pressure to pass a spending bill by the end of the year to rein in its deficit and soaring debt, but efforts have been hampered by a political deadlock.
The French Socialist party says it will fight to introduce a flagship wealth tax to raise revenue by targeting France's richest people, as the divided parliament prepares to begin debating next year's budget. Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist party grouping in parliament, said on Wednesday that taxing very high-wealth individuals in France was one of our principal battles and we're going to put all our energy into it.
French trade unions are leading a day of strikes on Thursday as they try to maintain pressure on the new prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, to rethink budget cuts and consider a form of wealth tax on the super-rich. Lecornu has still not formed a new government after being appointed on 9 September amid a political crisis when his predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was dramatically ousted over proposed budget cuts.
Reeves said the exchange scheme would allow young people in Britain to be able to go and work, to travel, to volunteer, to gain experience, to learn languages in European countries. And we want young people from those European countries to also be able to come to the UK and have the same opportunities that my generation had to travel, work and study in Europe, she said.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), urged the chancellor to stay the course on her plans to invest in the country, adding that the government should not be afraid of adopting a little bit of economic leftwing populism. Ahead of the TUC's annual gathering this weekend, he called Nigel Farage an absolute political opportunist who could be challenged by Labour demonstrating that it was genuinely on the side of working people, through better employment rights and a fairer tax system.
"Inheritance tax continues to be a meal ticket for HMRC. While wealth taxes, IHT's uglier sibling, will be in the spotlight in the run up to the Autumn Budget it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see further tinkering with IHT too."
Income inequality is an existential threat to society, impacting public health, educational outcomes, and housing security. We must address this pressing issue through local taxes.
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