Labour is considering a tax on land values as a way of boosting local government budgets, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.
In a sign of the party’s confidence about growing public interest in a fresh approach to managing the economy, McDonnell said cuts to council spending were so severe that it might now be possible “to have a rational debate”.
At the last election the Tories called Labour’s proposal for a tax on commercial land values a “garden tax” that could force home owners to sell up. The Greens and the Liberal Democrats are also interested in the idea.
