Labour could hit “rich” people paid over £70,000 with more taxes to raise money for cash-strapped public services, John McDonnell has revealed.
The shadow chancellor said individuals bringing in more than the sum are “roughly defined” as being able to contribute a greater amount.
He said exact proposals would be cemented in coming weeks, but Labour would ensure both “corporations and the rich” would pay more as part of a fairer tax system to cover the cost of increased investment in the NHS, schools and other services.
It comes as the country prepares yet again to go to the polls after Theresa May called for a general election. Parliament is due to approve the plan on Wednesday.
Mr McDonnell said: “We will be looking to see how we ensure a fair taxation system and, to be frank, what we’ll be doing is we’ll be looking to the corporations and the rich to pay their share.
“You look at what’s happening in this country at the moment and you see that the burden in terms of the tax take has fallen on middle and low earners…below the higher tax bands.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he added: “We believe we are talking about the rich, will be above 70,000 to 80,000 a year, and that’s roughly defined as what people feel is an earning, whereby people feel they can pay more.”
As well as those making the amount of money in the private sector, the figure could mean some mid-to-senior ranking civil servants and managers in the public sector paying more.
The shadow chancellor also confirmed Labour would effectively cap top pay by setting a maximum pay ratio for chief executives “in relation to their workers”, at companies wanting public sector contracts.
Mr McDonnell said Labour would go into the campaign promising to maintain some access to the EU’s single market while maximising the benefits the UK currently enjoys as part of the bloc's customs union.
He said a future Labour government would seek “a managed and fair immigration system that takes into account the needs of our economy”.
A Labour spokesperson later said: “We will be laying out our policies on taxation in detail in our manifesto in the coming weeks.
“Labour believes in a fair tax system, and is opposed to the £70 billion in Tory tax giveaways to the super-rich and big corporations.”
