Increase wealth taxes to stop rise of Reform UK, says ex-Labour minister

Liam Byrne has warned the chancellor that extra levies on the rich are needed to halt the rise of the populist right

A failure by Rachel Reeves to back a windfall of wealth taxes" in her budget risks fuelling the rise of the populist right, a former Labour cabinet minister has warned.

Liam Byrne, a senior figure in the New Labour government and chair of the Commons business and trade committee, said that the rise of Reform UK at the last election meant the chancellor and Keir Starmer must urgently consider raising funds to deal with inequality.