Burnham Ally Urges Capital Gains Rise Before Monday Speech
Louise Haigh, tipped for a senior post in the incoming government, called for capital gains tax to rise and for fiscal rules to be eased — directly against the Blair institute’s weekend warning that Britain cannot tax its way to prosperity. Asked whether Andy Burnham would run the Treasury well, she replied: “Yes I do actually”. Burnham delivers his first major leadership speech tomorrow morning, with a £4.7bn defence funding gap among the fiscal holes awaiting answers.
The transition’s first open policy battle is now fully joined: the soft left pushing capital gains rises and looser borrowing rules, the Blairite wing warning against both, and Washington briefing against the likeliest left-leaning chancellor — all before Burnham holds a single lever of power. One tax specialist published thirty-seven options for filling the defence gap this weekend, a measure of how open the fiscal question remains. Markets have so far taken the uncertainty calmly, helped by Burnham ruling out an early election. Tomorrow’s speech is the first set-piece where signal replaces speculation. Watch the passages on tax, fiscal rules and the chancellor timeline.