Theresa May’s former advisor urges Tories to tax rich MORE to fund poor
THERESA May’s former advisor called for a dramatic shake-up as he urged the Tories to tax the wealthy more to fund the poor.
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Nick Timothy called for the prime minister to increase the rate paid by those who are better off while slashing how much tax the Government takes off poorer workers’ wages.
Demanding radical action, he called for a highly controversial shake-up of the tax system that would see income tax threshold raised from £11,500 in a bid to “turbo care” social mobility.
And he condemned the Government for not acting while the ability for people to make a better life for themselves is “stalling”
He said: “The Government should be prepared to redistribute more through the tax system, from the wealthy to working families with modest incomes.
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“They should be prepared to increase taxes on accumulated wealth so they can cut taxes on income.”
Mr Timothy resigned from Downing Street in June after accepting his role in the general election disaster that saw the Tories lose its working majority and forced to form a supply and demand coalition with Northern Ireland’s DUP.
His comments in The Sun are likely to irk many traditional Tory MPs but he claims: “The Government should be prepared to redistribute more through the tax system: from the wealthy to working families with modest incomes.
“They should be prepared to increase taxes on accumulated wealth so they can cut taxes on income.”
In a sign many feel could be an indicator Mrs May could be about to sack her education minister, he also launched a scathing attack on Justine Greening for failing to do enough to help school children break through social barriers.
He branded her Social Mobility Action Plan published last week “disappointing” and added: “Greening is slowing down successful policies she inherited”.
His surprising intervention came after the dramatic resignation of the entire Social Mobility Commission’s board two weeks ago.
Lead by former Labour Cabinet minister Alan Milburn, the politicians said No10 was failing to do enough to tackle major blocks on aspiration as it was too overwhelmed by Brexit and had neglected many other important policy areas because of this.
