‘Without a big reset, then the keys to Number 10 are being handed to Reform and Nigel Farage.’
Labour members want the government to adopt more radical policies including a wealth tax, bringing water into public ownership and scrapping the two-child benefit cap, a new poll has found.
In a clear message to the party leadership, the polling, conducted by Survation on behalf of Compass, found that almost all Labour members (91%) support introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich.
Ahead of Labour’s autumn budget, more than 30 MPs have backed a motion by Independent MP Richard Burgon to introduce a 2% wealth tax on individual assets over £10 million. This policy would raise an estimated £24 billion a year.
The overwhelming majority of members (92%) also want essential utilities like water to be brought back into public ownership.
In addition, over eight in ten Labour members say that the government should end all arms sales to Israel, and also want the two-child limit to be scrapped.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Labour members want Keir Starmer to stop suspending MPs for opposing the government.
Last July, Labour withdrew the whip from seven of its MPs who had voted for an amendment tabled by the Scottish National Party to scrap the two child benefit cap.
Neal Lawson, director of Compass, said the polling showed that the prime minister “fence-sitting and aping of Reform’s rhetoric isn’t wanted”.
He warned that “without a big reset, then the keys to Number 10 are being handed to Reform and Nigel Farage”.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who lost the Labour whip last year, told The Independent that the survey “confirms how starkly out of touch Keir Starmer is”.
He added: “It’s time for Keir not just to start listening to people beyond the Westminster bubble but also taking some decisive action. All people are saying to him is to behave like a Labour prime minister should.”
A Labour spokesperson said the party’s priority after taking office last July was “to fix the foundations after 14 years of Tory chaos” and pointed to achievements including boosting the minimum wage for three million low-paid workers, and rolling out free school meals and breakfast clubs for primary school children.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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