Ellie Cox: Labour thinks a tax is the best form of defence but it is killing aspiration and pushing the successful to leave

Cllr Ellie Cox is a councillor in Merton and a former 2024 parliamentary and London Assembly candidate.

Whenever I open the paper or turn on the news, there it is again — yet another way the Labour government is preparing to raid our pockets to fund its overspending. When government stops serving the public and starts treating workers and businesses as cash machines, something has gone badly wrong. If the response to every challenge is simply to take more from those who work hard or save responsibly, then we must ask: how can this government claim to support growth when it penalises the very people and businesses driving it?

As we head towards yet another gloomy Budget — one the country is not-so-quietly dreading because almost every hardworking person could be in the firing line, whether through pensions, savings, or rising taxes — Labour seems utterly deaf to the damage it’s doing to aspiration and economic confidence. The only refrain we hear is:

“Why shouldn’t they pay more?”

That’s the question some Labour figures pose as they point their empty coffer at successful people and consider the idea of wealth taxes, including a so-called mansion tax — a potential annual levy on properties worth, possibly, £2 million or more, which was the threshold previously advocated by Labour in 2014. With Keir Starmer refusing to rule it out so far, this could well be the next dose of socialism served up to the nation. To some, it may sound like a tax on privilege. But in reality, it threatens something far more profound: Britain’s culture of aspiration and home ownership.

Picture Angela Rayner walking past one of London’s Georgian townhouses on her way to Parliament — the kind of home many admire but few will ever own. To her, taxing these properties may seem justified — a way to tackle inequality and raise revenue. But these houses aren’t just bricks and mortar; they often embody ambition realised and hard work rewarded. By targeting them, Labour risks turning aspiration into something punished rather than celebrated — transforming the UK into a place where success is treated as a tax burden, not an achievement.

Rayner, should understand that dreams matter — that aspiration often begins with something visible, tangible to aim for. Yet now, as Labour’s Deputy Leader, she is part of a leadership team pushing policies that risk penalising those who dare to reach that goal.

Take a state-educated doctor I met, raised from humble beginnings with no family wealth. After years of relentless training, gruelling shifts, and extra work, he finally bought a period home. That house isn’t a symbol of privilege — it’s proof. Proof that with ambition and sacrifice, Britain still champions social mobility and rewards hard work.

Yet, under Labour, that success is suddenly suspect. This isn’t about taxing oligarchs or wealthy foreign dignitaries— many of whom can move their assets or themselves to minimise tax. It’s about targeting people who’ve firmly rooted their lives here: entrepreneurs, small business owners, hard-working people who’ve taken risks, contributed to the economy, and already fairly paid tax on their earnings. A mansion tax would effectively tax the same income twice—first when it is earned, then again on the value of the property it helped buy.

Not everyone living in a higher value home is a recent buyer. Many purchased their properties two or more decades ago, when values were far lower. Through no fault of their own, these long-term homeowners would risk being caught by an arbitrary tax line if a mansion tax is introduced. Often elderly residents, if they were unable to afford an annual levy, they would be forced to sell their cherished homes. This tax doesn’t just target wealth—it punishes circumstance.

Similarly, Savills research shows that such a tax would disproportionately impact homeowners in London and South East England. Imposing a tax based on price alone—without regard to property size, equity, or a person’s income and ability to pay—is deeply unfair.

In 1989, France introduced a wealth tax targeting high-net-worth individuals, including a levy on high-value properties. The result was a wave of emigration — some 60,000 millionaires, including investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators, left the country, taking capital, talent, and ideas with them. Investment slowed, and France’s global competitiveness suffered. One estimate suggests the tax cost France up to €5 billion a year in lost capital — money that could have supported business growth and jobs — and shaved 0.2  per cent off annual GDP growth. By 2017, the tax was effectively scrapped and replaced with a narrower real estate tax. But the damage was done: a generation of lost growth that couldn’t be undone. The message was clear — when you punish success, success leaves.

The real danger here isn’t just fiscal — it’s philosophical.

Wealth taxes reveal something deeper about Labour’s worldview: a belief that the state knows better than you how to spend your money. That aspiration must be regulated, success capped, and wealth redistributed — not through growth, but through grasp. It’s a view that sees people not as individuals striving to improve their circumstances, but as revenue streams to be tapped.

Margaret Thatcher put it best: “They would rather the poor were poorer, provided the rich were less rich.”

That’s not fairness — its envy dressed up as equity and it’s a dangerous message to send. Because the people Labour are targeting — the ones who own higher value homes — aren’t the idle elite. They’re often the first-generation success stories. The ones who started businesses, created jobs, and helped fund our public services. International talent came to Britain precisely because it didn’t punish ambition — because this was a country where risk and reward still meant something.

If the people who start businesses, innovate, and create jobs feel unwelcome, they won’t stick around. They’ll leave — taking their ambition and innovation with them. This isn’t just a brain drain; it’s a soul drain on the next generation. The message is clear: don’t try too hard, don’t aim too high. Because if you succeed, the Labour government will be there to tax you at every turn.