General Election Promises: Tax and Spend?

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Politicians are busy making big electoral promises. Some of them are to be funded by taxing wealthier people. But will the next chancellor be able to get the money they need from high earners, or will they need to find new ways of funding their ambitions? David Aaronovitch discovers, with his guests, what wealth consists of and who today has the means to contribute more to the UK tax kitty and how they could pay it. How many are there of them? And, importantly, are they the people we think they are? Might we be surprised to discover who qualifies as wealthy? CONTRIBUTORS: Torsten Bell, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank that focuses on the living standards of those people on low and middle incomes. John Whiting, CBE, former tax director of the Office of Tax Simplification Pat Thane, Visiting Professor in History at Birkbeck, University of London and an expert on ageing, the welfare state and pensions Merryn Somerset Webb, editor-in-chief of the personal finance magazine, MoneyWeek, and a columnist for the money section of FT Weekend. Producer Simon Coates Editor Jasper Corbett