Abolition of non-domicile tax status would not drive people away from Britain, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said, citing ‘a case in point in Downing Street’.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty agreed to pay taxes in the UK on her worldwide income after her non-dom status became the subject of a public debate earlier this year.
Sunak and Murty, the daughter of the Indian IT major Infosys’ co-founder N R Narayana Murthy, are ranked 17th on the Asian Rich List with an estimated wealth of £790 million.
The Labour party argues that scrapping the non-dom tax status - where foreign nationals living in the UK don’t have to pay taxes on their overseas incomes - would generate enough revenue for the government to train thousands of NHS staff.
However, Sunak warned that any abolition of the status would cost Britain financially as it could make rich individuals leave the country.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates scrapping the status could fetch the exchequer around £3 billion annually.
Streeting told Sky News: “As for the claims that people would just take their money and go somewhere else - why is it that when it comes to taxing the wealthy it's far too difficult, but when it comes to picking the pockets of working people with punitive tax rises, that seems to be the Conservatives' first and last resort?”
He said the Labour party’s policy did not mean to “single out” Sunak and his family.
“But there is a case in point in Downing Street, isn't there? Someone who was a non-dom now pays their taxes here and hasn't left the country. And I think that would be the case in the vast majority of non-doms too.”
“I do think this is a fair way of funding a workforce plan,” the MP for Ilford North said.
Abolition of non-dom status won’t drive people away from UK: Labour MP
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting discreetly cited the example of Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty.
Dharavi slum in Mumbai
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)