Burnham Adviser Louise Haigh: Raise CGT, Loosen Fiscal Rules, Rein In “Imperial” Treasury
Capital gains tax should be brought closer to income tax rates, fiscal rules loosened, and the “imperial” Treasury reined in, a senior Burnham adviser briefed The Times Sunday. Louise Haigh’s briefing previews the structural Burnham economic-vision speech tomorrow. The Haigh framework combined with the Haldane advisory positioning crystallises the pre-coronation Burnham economic-policy architecture: tax-base reform, fiscal-rules recalibration, machinery-of-government changes toward devolved economic governance. Bond markets are likely to materially react Monday morning to the formal speech delivery.
The CGT-toward-income-rates positioning is materially significant: it would represent the largest tax-base recalibration since the 2008 Darling reforms. The fiscal-rules-loosening framing combined with the Treasury-rein-in positioning structures the broader Burnham-era policy-differentiation architecture. The Macpherson Treasury-North warning (Friday) combined with the Haigh Treasury-rein-in positioning (Sunday) creates the structural civil-service-vs-political-leadership tension for Q3. Bond markets will materially price the speech tomorrow.