Starmer’s New Personal Economic Adviser Led Landmark Report Calling for Huge Tax Rises – Guido Fawkes

EXC: Starmer’s New Personal Economic Adviser Led Landmark Report Calling for Huge Tax Rises

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The PM’s new economic head honcho led a landmark project calling for a series of massive tax rises. You’ll never guess who she was working with…

Starmer has brought former BoE Deputy Governor Baroness Minouche Shafik in as his new personal senior economic adviser in Number 10. Shafik was touted as a potential new Cabinet Secretary at the time of the election and has since undertaken a review of aid spending for Labour…

Shafik resigned as President of Columbia after the way the university dealt with protests over Gaza drew massive criticism. Prior to that Guido can reveal she was one of the few individuals on the Resolution Foundation’s special “commission” leading one Torsten Bell’s multi-year ‘Economy 2030‘ report. In fact, she co-chaired the entire ‘Economy 2030 Inquiry’ underpinning the report. Published on 4 December 2023, that report called for the following tax rises among others:

• Cut the VAT registration threshold to £50,000 then £30,000.
• Create Road Duty for EVs.
• End free carbon permits & introduce carbon border adjustment.
• Encourage local congestion charges.
• Charge Capital Gains Tax on death and when moving out of UK.
• Scrap non-dom status.
• Hike national insurance for higher self-employed incomes by 300% to 8%.
• Hike basic rate of Dividend tax from 8.75% to 20%.
• Introduce NI for rental income.
• Extend employer NI to employer pension contributions.
• Cut the £270,000 cap on tax-free pensions to £40,000.
• Make everyone pay inheritance tax by scrapping the nil-rate band.
• Hike vehicle excise duty for heavier cars.
• Introduce pay-per-mile road duty for electric vehicles.
• Scrap business and agricultural property reliefs.
• Raise Capital Gains Tax on shares to 37% and real estate to 53%.

Many of these will be familiar to co-conspirators aware of the Treasury’s new ‘Budget Man Bell.’ The Resolution Foundation described Shafik’s role in the Commission:

“a small Commission of seven high-profile thinkers and doers provided the Inquiry’s strategic leadership and direction for future work.”

The PM’s economic adviser is meant to bridge with the Treasury and push back where required. She’ll be “pushing back” against her fellow tax-fan and Budget architect Mr Bell…