After the winter fuel payment, welfare reform, two-child benefit cap, £28 billion green investment promise and soon maybe ‘non-dom’ tax policy changes, Labour has now made more U-turns than a dodgem at the fun fair.

With the exodus of non-doms from the UK, it is evident that the Treasury doesn’t understand the financial dynamics of cosmopolitan London, particularly as it applies to these wealthy weather makers.

Foolishly, in their forecast, the OBR thought that this measure would raise between £6 billion and £9 billion for the Treasury but actually, this will be a net cost.

Under pressure from the City, Reeves is now considering moderating the more draconian elements of the non-dom changes, to stem the tide of these wealth creators.

If the UK is to attract inward investment, this is the antithesis of what a competent government should do. And now, the Chancellor is rumoured to be slapping on a hefty wealth tax of 2% above £10 million.

This is backed by Lord Kinnock, who, if anyone remembers, was sent to Europe to be the whistleblower of the gluttonous expenses enjoyed by the MEPs but ended up ‘turning turtle’ by joining the feeding frenzy himself.

Kinnock is now advocating a wealth tax which is drawn directly from politics of envy and let’s face it, kicking the rich is a very gratifying sport to the more left-wing members of the Labour Party.

Non-dom disaster

Hasn’t the government learnt anything from the non-dom disaster? There is nothing more mobile than the fabulously rich and they have not hesitated to ‘pick up sticks’ and take their wealth to more welcoming fiscal climes abroad.

I am going to scream if I hear the overused expression ‘let the broadest shoulders bear the most burden’. Lest we forget, 1% of the taxpayers pay 30% of the total tax take and there cannot be anything more fiscally progressive than this.

Yes, the ‘asset owners’ have gained wealth over time (made up of property and shares), but this applies to all demographic groups, not just the uber wealthy.

A wealth tax was introduced in France and abolished in 2018.  In Germany it was repealed in 1997 and in Sweden 2007.  The main reason for its failure in all of these countries is that it drove wealthy individuals to leave, and it was too costly to manage, whilst generating very low revenue for the respective government coffers.

In fact, in France, 12,000 millionaires left between 2000 and 2016, and you would think ‘Rachel from Accounts’, would know this.  And the German courts ruled that the wealth tax violated the principal of equal taxation.

£60 million

Despite all this, back at the ranch at Glentree, using our specialist skills, we have managed to sell £60 million of residential property during the past three months.

Having weathered four recessions already, we have the experience of circumnavigating the many obstacles that exist in this sector.

Nevertheless, I can tell you that it isn’t easy trading without a feel-good factor, which the government has shown a great propensity to extinguish.

We are seasoned veterans in this business and although our brethren in the estate agency industry are moaning and groaning, primarily due to the plummeting number of deals, our canny buyers see it as an opportunity to purchase plum residential properties, on the cheap.

Trevor Abrahmsohn is Chief Executive of Glentree International.