Labour's union paymasters to set out 'wish list' on tax and Brexit in meeting with Chancellor John Healey… amid fears he will hike CGT to fill £10bn black hole

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 03:19 EDT, 17 September 2026 | Updated: 03:26 EDT, 17 September 2026 John Healey is meeting Labour's union paymasters today to hear their demands on tax and Brexit.The Chancellor will host the party donors with just six weeks to go until a potentially pivotal Budget.They are expected to lay out a 'wish list' including wealth taxes, raising the personal allowance, loosening fiscal rules and scrapping red lines on ties with the EU. Storm clouds are gathering ahead of Mr Healey's fiscal package, with the Middle East crisis sending the Government's debt interest costs spiralling.The Treasury must also find ways of funding Andy Burnham's multi-billion pound spending commitments. There is speculation that Mr Healey is looking towards a raid on capital gains tax in a bid to fill a black hole estimated at £10billion - something that critics have warned could backfire. Chancellor John Healey will host the party donors with just six weeks to go until a potentially pivotal Budget Unite boss Sharon Graham has demanded massive wealth taxes to fund public servicesThe PM hit back at claims he is a 'tax and spend socialist' yesterday, insisting: 'That does not tell the story. We are not that.'He said he had proved his willingness to take 'difficult decisions' by scrapping plans for digital ID cards to free up cash to cut VAT on energy bills.But Mr Burnham also admitted the Budget will be 'challenging'. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has called for a moratorium on further tax rises, warning they are 'crushing' the economy. Rachel Reeves became the biggest tax-raiser in history during two years in No11.Unite boss Sharon Graham has demanded massive wealth taxes to fund public services. She told the BBC that Mr Healey should end the long-standing freeze on the personal allowance - which has raised huge sums for the Treasury. 'We must see things happen immediately. I told him [Burnham] that you have to make working class people believe their best days are in front of them,' Ms Graham said.'That tax threshold of around £12,500 - if that hadn't been frozen for the past few years it would have moved up to over £16,000 now. People at the lower end are paying eye-watering amounts of tax.'The country's biggest union, Unison, wants a tax raid on large tech companies - an idea that has enraged Donald Trump.It is also urging Mr Healey to commission research into shifting tax from income to wealth, something Mr Burnham has previously supported.The GMB has reiterated calls for the Government to approve new Rosebank and Jackdaw fields in the North Sea.Mr Healey hailed the appointment of TUC general secretary Paul Nowak to a key role on the Bank of England yesterday.Mr Nowak will be a non-executive director on the Bank's court, responsible for overseeing governance and corporate strategy.Union officials traditionally hold one of the NED posts at Threadneedle Street. Mr Nowak has pledged to give his £20,000 a year fee to charity. Unison chief Andrea Egan is seen as an ally of Andy Burnham Mr Healey hailed the appointment of TUC general secretary Paul Nowak to a key role on the Bank of England yesterdayTwo former BoE chiefs have warned that the Government has failed to convince financial markets that it has a grip on the public finances.The Bank's former deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean said markets were jittery because 'there is a question mark about whether this govt is willing to take the difficult decisions needed to maintain fiscal sustainability'.In a withering assessment Andy Haldane, former chief economist at the Bank, said the markets 'now suspect that this is a traditional tax and spend socialist government with better TikTok videos.'Mr Haldane, a sometime adviser to Mr Burnham on the economy, added: 'The fiscal Achilles' heel of this government, thus far, has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending. Within financial markets, we've gone from the cautious optimism of the summer months to the studied scepticism of September.'