Tax raids on the middle classes are in Burnham’s 10-year plan: Would-be PM to unveil Left-wing mission

Andy Burnham will today unveil his Left plan for a decade in power as he plans a tax raid on middle-class Southerners.

The future prime minister will begin unveiling his plan for Sir Keir Starmer to be sidelined next month.

He will be given the keys to No 10 at the Labor Party’s ‘coronation ceremony’, where the public will not have a say.

But despite not having a term in office, the former Manchester mayor will seek to stay in power for ten years.

Mr Burnham will put devolution at the heart of his programme, arguing that transferring power and money from Whitehall to the North will help deliver ‘good growth in every postcode’.

This could include mayors’ tax-raising powers, as well as greater control over business rates and locally generated income taxes.

But plans being worked out by potential Chancellor Ed Miliband are also likely to include a raft of new tax increases that will fall disproportionately on better-off families in the South.

While the self-styled ‘King of the North’ is not expected to set out detailed tax plans in a speech in Manchester today, allies have suggested his program could include a property tax that would penalize those with more valuable homes, as well as a rise in capital gains tax and a new ‘death tax’.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who is understood to have pushed Mr Burnham to appoint him as Chancellor, is also working on plans. Former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, a key ally of Mr Burnham, called for a ‘reimagining’ of the tax system in Britain (the two are pictured in 2024)

Mr Burnham backed Labour’s ‘fiscal rules’ but his allies believe they could be exploited to borrow billions of pounds more.

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride branded the plans a ‘disaster’ and added: ‘We are about to see what a real Left government looks like.

‘It is clear that Burnham will double down on the mistakes made by Starmer and Reeves.

‘All signs point to him having no idea other than more borrowing, taxing and spending.’

Mr Burnham will argue that investments in regional infrastructure and technical education could bear fruit by the mid-2030s.

He will argue that the South could benefit in the long run if regional economies in the North were given cash to grow.

The Makerfield MP, who has yet to make his first speech to Parliament following this month’s by-election victory, will warn Labor may need another decade in power to ‘get Britain back to where it should be’ and put living standards back on the path to an upward trend.

His ascension will lift the curtain on Sir Keir’s troubled leadership just two years into his ten-year plan to ‘renew’ Britain.

Mr Burnham’s ascension will lift the curtain on Sir Keir’s troubled leadership just two years into his ten-year plan to ‘renew’ Britain. Picture: Prime Minister resigns

It will present itself as a ‘circuit breaker’ after years of economic stagnation. In a symbolic move, Mr Burnham plans to spend some of his time outside London at Manchester’s new ‘No 10 North’, where he was mayor for almost a decade.

He faces a potential tax raid on middle-class Southerners to finance his plans to transfer power and money to the North.

Former transport secretary Louise Haigh, who organized Mr Burnham’s transition to government, said Britain’s tax system was ‘unfair’.

Writing in the Left-wing magazine Renewal, she called for a ‘redesign’ of the system, including moving towards the equalization of rates for capital gains and income tax.

Ms Haigh, who was forced to resign from the Cabinet over fraud convictions, also put forward the idea of ​​an ‘estate land tax’ in addition to council tax.

Mr Burnham’s team is believed to be examining proposals from campaign group Fairer Share, which proposes a 0.48 per cent annual tax on all homes.

This would result in an average annual fee of £748 in the North East, while the equivalent bill in the South East would be £1,824 and £2,660 in London.

Meanwhile, rules that end liability for capital gains at death could be overturned by what critics call a ‘death tax’.

Other plans in his manifesto include town hall construction, revitalizing the HS2 link to Manchester, regenerating former industrial communities and ‘public control’ over public services.

Mr Burnham looks set to hand over the keys to Number 10 on July 20, even though his term in office is limited to the 25,000 voters who support him in Makerfield – equal to just 0.05 per cent of the electorate.

Conservative Party leader Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘Burnham’s big idea is to distribute power among politicians. Don’t fix the welfare system.

‘Don’t cut taxes that strangle families and businesses. Don’t fund the defense our country desperately needs.

‘Just more devolution, more committees, more processes. ‘It is Labour’s policy of distraction that deliberately avoids important questions.’