The U.K.’s Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has won plaudits from an unlikely source for taking a tough line on taxation after she pledged that the Labour Party would not introduce a wealth tax if it forms a government following the next British election.
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said in a post on social media on Friday that America’s Democratic Party should “wake up and take a cue” from Reeves.
“She is for wealth creation. She feels u don’t tax ur way out [of economic problems]. U grow ur way out,” he wrote, adding that the British opposition’s policies are “very Reaganesque.”
In an interview with the Telegraph last weekend, Reeves ruled out introducing a levy on accumulated wealth or owned properties despite calls from some on the left of the party to back more radical solutions to the cost of living crisis.
She also confirmed a decision to shelve plans to raise the top rate of personal income tax from 45 pence on the pound, as Labour shifts onto a campaign footing ahead of parliamentary elections expected next year.
The move, which Reeves said she hopes will ensure support from wealthier voters and secure investment from business, has drawn ire from supporters of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Left-wing pressure group Momentum described the policy shift as “shameful” and “a political choice to favour big business and the 1 percent over ordinary people.”
Grassley, an 89-year-old conservative Republican, has consistently opposed higher taxation in the U.S. and pushed for repealing the estate tax on inherited assets, as well as backed looser gun-control laws and states’ rights to ban abortions.
