Kemi Badenoch piled pressure on Rachel Reeves to act on stamp duty yesterday, after a poll found almost two-thirds of voters back her plan to scrap it.
The Conservative leader electrified her party conference this week by unveiling a dramatic £9billion plan to abolish the hated tax.
Labour MPs attacked the plan, with one saying it would ‘simply fuel rising house prices’.
But a survey yesterday suggested widespread public support for the idea – including among Labour voters. The YouGov poll of more than 4,000 voters found that 63 per cent of the public back the plan to scrap stamp duty, compared with just 13 per cent who oppose it.
Among Conservative voters, the idea is supported by a margin of 80 to nine. It is also backed by Labour voters by 59 to 20.
Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Daisy Cooper dismissed Mrs Badenoch’s speech as ‘Liz Truss on steroids’. But her party’s voters back the abolition by 71 to 11.
Treasury sources confirmed the Chancellor could seek to respond with her own shake-up of property taxes at next month’s Budget. One said a major change to property taxes ‘is being considered’.
Ms Reeves is reported to be eyeing options for a so-called ‘mansion tax’, which could involve replacing stamp duty with an annual charge on homes, particularly those of higher value.
Kemi Badenoch (pictured) piled pressure on Rachel Reeves to act on stamp duty yesterday
The move could help appease Labour calls for a ‘wealth tax’ but, with the Chancellor facing an estimated £30billion black hole in public finances, she is not expected to match the Tory proposal directly.
Work and Pensions secretary Pat McFadden yesterday questioned whether the Conservative plans could be afforded. He told Times Radio: ‘It’s desperate from a party that couldn’t fund our last round of tax cut promises. And in order to try and have a short sugar rush, they’ve announced another round.
‘And I’m afraid the stamp duty policy wasn’t the only unfunded spending commitment announced at their conference.’ Several Labour MPs criticised the idea of scrapping stamp duty.
Crewe and Nantwich MP Connor Naismith described it as a ‘Tory obsession’, adding: ‘The abolition of stamp duty will simply fuel rising house prices: replacing one barrier to home ownership with another at the expense of the taxpayer, to the benefit of developers. They have learned nothing.’
Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the axing would be funded by £47billion of proposed spending savings unveiled this week, including a crackdown on welfare which could save £23billion. He said scrapping the tax would also boost the economy by making it easier for people to move home.
The abolition of stamp duty would save homebuyers thousands of pounds at one of the most financially stretching times in their lives. The tax hits around 600,000 property transactions a year.
TV property expert Kirstie Allsopp said ditching the ‘rotten’ tax was a ‘very, very good idea’ and urged Ms Reeves to follow suit.
