John Mann proposes ‘mansion tax’ for party members
John Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw, has been a constant critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s reign as Labour leader. Is this another attempt to undermine his own party? [Image: John Stillwell/PA].
And there’s no reason to accept his idea of a higher-rate membership fee for people who are better-off than most. Do other political parties have such a system?
No – it seems likely he simply wants to find a way to avoid the more extreme methods of opposing the implied £6 million cut in Labour’s funding from trade unions as a result of the Tory bill going through Parliament at the moment.
Labour would be better-off if it cut all co-operation with the Conservative Government until ministers changed their minds about their unreasonable and despotic attacks on democracy.
Labour members who own property worth more than £1m should be charged a membership fee of £1,000, according to party MP John Mann.
The MP for Bassetlaw, who has been an outspoken critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he would formally put forward a proposal to introduce “a Labour mansion tax” at the party’s annual conference.
Writing on his website, Mann said: “Hidden from the discussion of Labour’s big increase in membership is any analysis of who has joined as fee-paying individual members, but a deeper examination will show that it is overwhelmingly the middle classes who are joining.”
The MP claimed that on one street in the Labour leader’s constituency of Islington North, populated by owner-occupiers in multimillion-pound houses, 40 people had joined the party over a 12-week period.
Mann suggested that the new members could help avert a funding crisis that would come if the government’s trade union bill passes. A confidential Labour document released to the Guardian last week revealed that the party faces an expected £6m drop in its annual income as a result of the changes to the political levy being introduced in the bill.
Source: Labour MP proposes ‘mansion tax’ for party members | Politics | The Guardian
This Mann is a fool. The reality is that in this area members who are better off do in fact contribute considerably more than those who are not so well off. They contribute more in collections raffles etc.
They’re the ones we tap up when we need a kick to our funds and the stump up.
Labour County Councillors in my branch give a tithe to the party that got them elected. I wonder what percentage of his MPs salary Mann gives?
I think it’s about time all political funding was levelled, say £1m per party no more, no less and with no private funding allowed.
If they told the truth at election time there would be no need for expensive PR teams to cover up the differences as to what was promised and what was actually delivered!
Time they were held accountable for their actions, and more so their inactions!
I don’t care where John Mann lives and his idea of taxing people just because they live in a mansion is ridiculous. Successful (all) people should not be taxed on their life-styles but taxed on their income.
Mann is trying to undermine the labour party by reducing the numbers joining.
Its not an innovative idea to improve funding moreso a cynical attempt to reduce numbers being recruited to preserve his arrogant right wing cronies.
Opposition voting against each and every tory policy in s form of coalition joining together to delay every policy will be more effective and be the best way forward. It will hopefully create problems within the tory party and slowly disintegrate them into a shambles. It will also justify a vote of no confidence in the government and herald an early election.
That will only work if they end the practice of pairing.