In going to war with wealthy tax avoiders, Ed Miliband has picked the right target– and the Tories know it
Attacking non-doms is good electoral politics and good policy. For proof of both, just ask George Osborne. In 2007, when he was only a boyish shadow chancellor, Mr Osborne effectively shredded Labour’s electoral strategy by announcing a cut in inheritance tax to be paid for by a levy on non-doms. And – lo! – any thoughts Gordon Brown might have entertained of calling an election were shelved. Or so political folklore has it. As Mr Brown’s aide Damian McBride later wrote, the announcement, even from an inexperienced Conservative frontbench, was one of the crucial events that “did shift the media momentum, and hardened the poll deficit in those crucial south-east marginals. They created the climate for GB to wobble when the moment of decision came.”
Related: Ed Miliband: Labour will scrap non-dom tax status
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