Zack Polanski: Greens should join forces with Jeremy Corbyn
Zack Polanski is challenging Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns to become the next leader of the Green Party in elections that will take place this summer.
The London Assembly member, who defines himself as an 'eco-populist', has won more than 100 endorsements from Green councillors and is viewed as a powerful contender for leadership of the party.
Polanski said he was open to a pact with anyone who could challenge the rise of Reform. 'We have an increasingly unpopular Labour government that not only doesn't know how to handle it, but is actively making the conditions that are spurring on Nigel Farage even worse. So I will ally myself with anyone who shares my and the Green Party's values,' he said.
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It also acknowledged that 'another problem category could be start-ups that are potentially profitable but loss-making in the early years'. A wealth tax would clearly act as a deterrent to those with the potential to create jobs, growth, and future tax revenues. It would be both anti-business and anti-growth. The double taxation involved in capital gains tax, inheritance tax and wealth taxes would, in time, tend to limit domestic savings, investment and capital accumulation. The long-term result would be to reduce the UK's productive capacity, undermine financial resilience and discourage long-term planning. These issues are not new. Dennis Healey, Chancellor between 1974 and 1979, acknowledged: 'We had committed ourselves to a wealth tax, but in five years I found it impossible to draft one which would yield enough revenue to be worth the administrative cost and political hassle.' Perhaps just as well. Ireland, which did impose a wealth tax in 1975, abolished it in 1978. 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