Today we glimpsed what Boris Johnson might do if he had more power, in London at least: jack up council taxes for some and lower business rates. In a Communities and Local Government select committee hearing on fiscal devolution, the Mayor of London outlined why, if the power was handed down from central government, he’d increase council tax for the richest Londoners:
‘If you compared with a Russian oligarch is paying on his stuccoed schloss in Kensington in annual council tax compared to what such a gentleman might be asked to pay in Paris or New York or anywhere else, it is quite stunning the difference. No one has yet grasped that.
‘I’m by no means an advocate of a mansion tax. In fact, I vehemently oppose such an idea. But we cannot go on for ever without looking at our council tax valuations, in my view.’
How would he afford this? When it was put to the Mayor ‘you’ve clearly ruled out the idea of a Mansion Tax but would you support extra council tax bands, particularly on more valuable properties?’, Boris replied that he wouldn’t raise rates across the board:
‘I think that’s the kind of thing you need to look at.
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