Photo via Evening Standard

John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Lynch, D. (2026, October 20). John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/john-healey-andy-burnham-government-kemi-badenoch-budget-b1301528.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-20 · by David Lynch

Quick Summary

John Healey has rejected calls to increase the capital gains tax ahead of the upcoming Budget announcement on October 28. Prominent Labour figures have advocated for raising this tax, which applies to profits from selling assets such as houses or shares. However, Lord O’Neill of Gately argues that increasing the capital gains tax would send a negative message to businesses. Instead, the Chancellor is expected to raise revenue by increasing bank profit taxes, with these funds likely going towards supporting households and businesses dealing with cost-of-living issues.
Written by AI on 2026-10-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

John Healey, Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, rejected calls to raise capital gains tax (CGT) ahead of his October 28 Budget statement. Prominent Labour figures like Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting had previously supported raising CGT, but concerns were raised that such a move could cost the government money if wealthy individuals left the country or delayed selling assets. Lord Jim O’Neill, who has advised Prime Minister Andy Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, warned that increasing CGT would send "the wrong message to business." Instead of raising CGT, Healey plans to increase taxes on bank profits, with a reported target to generate funds for cost-of-living support. The move follows warnings from cabinet ministers about potential economic harm if CGT were raised.

Written for “Healey Rejects Tax Hike Calls” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Healey Rejects Tax Hike Calls
Politics · 5 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 4 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
BBC News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 5 of 12 claims Outlet record 68/100
BBC News
Hedges 3 of 20 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of potential tax changes; one focuses on expected raids and taxes for banks in the upcoming Budget, while the other specifically addresses John Healey rejecting calls to raise capital gains tax.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 3 of 30 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses Kemi Badenoch's warning about John Healey's Budget causing economic damage compared to previous budgets, while Article B focuses on Healey rejecting calls to raise capital gains tax. These describe different aspects and specific incidents related to the same general topic but are not the same event.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 3 of 18 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses public expectations of tax hikes ahead of the Budget, while Article B reports on Chancellor John Healey's rejection of calls to raise capital gains tax specifically.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 9 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different aspects of John Healey's upcoming Budget announcement and his stance on capital gains tax, rather than the same specific incident or time point.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events related to the budget but do not cover the same specific incident.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the Budget and its implications for capital gains tax and bank profits, not a single specific incident.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 3 of 18 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of John Healey's Budget preparations: one focuses on speculative bets against the pound and criticism from the IMF, while the other addresses calls to raise capital gains tax.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
7
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 7 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 8234 article(s) · 73 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 73 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Lynch
61 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Asked by ITV if he would describe the Budget as radical, Mr Burnham suggested he did not.
🔮 Asked by ITV if he would describe the Budget as radical, Mr Burnham suggested he did not.
🔮 John Healey was repeatedly pressed about the cost of welfare by broadcasters, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned sickness and disability benefits could cost £100 billion a year before the end of the decade.
🔮 He told a post-Budget press conference that he wanted to “avoid conflict” in the chamber, after claiming he had been involved in an altercation with another MP at the state opening of Parliament on May 13.
🔮 John Healey was repeatedly pressed about the cost of welfare by broadcasters, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned sickness and disability benefits could cost £100 billion a year before the end of the decade.
🔮 John Healey was repeatedly pressed about the cost of welfare by broadcasters, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned sickness and disability benefits could cost £100 billion a year before the end of the decade.
🔮 John Healey was repeatedly pressed about the cost of welfare by broadcasters, after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned sickness and disability benefits could cost £100 billion a year before the end of the decade.
🔮 He told a post-Budget press conference that he wanted to “avoid conflict” in the chamber, after claiming he had been involved in an altercation with another MP at the state opening of Parliament on May 13.
🔮 John Healey will deliver his first Budget as Chancellor on October 28 against the backdrop of a difficult domestic economic situation, made worse due to international market turmoil caused by the Iran war.
🔮 Despite the apparent willingness to negotiate, Russia has continued to launch missile strikes at Kyiv.
Also by David Lynch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 61 articles by David Lynch →

Topics

Britain Budget Gately Labour Tories

Subjects

Budget ORG · 2× Burnham PERSON · 2× Britain GPE · 1× Civil Service ORG · 1× Gately ORG · 1× Ipsos ORG · 1× John Healey PERSON · 1× Labour ORG · 1× O’Neill PERSON · 1× Tories NORP · 1×

Narrative

John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget Several prominent Labour voices have called in recent months for a rise in the tax, which applies to the profit made from selling off assets like a house or shares. Lord O’Neill of Gately, who has advised Mr Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, told the newspaper that “raising capital gains tax would send very much the wrong message to business”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-20
🔮 John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget Several prominent Labour voices have called in recent months for a rise in the tax, which applies to the profit made from selling off assets like a house or shares. Lord O’Neill of Gately, who has advised Mr Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, told the newspaper that “raising capital gains tax would send very much the wrong message to business”.
2026-10-20 · Evening Standard
John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget · assertive framing

Claims (7 extracted, 0 hedged)

John Healey rejects calls to raise capital gains tax at the Budget Several prominent Labour voices have called in recent months for a rise in the tax, which applies to the profit made from selling off assets like a house or shares. Lord O’Neill of Gately, who has advised Mr Burnham and worked on the Northern Powerhouse project, told the newspaper that “raising capital gains tax would send very much the wrong message to business”. asserted
raising → reject → business
The biggest revenue raising measure set to be in the Budget is an increase in the rate banks pay on their profits, widely reported across the media last week. asserted
banks → set → media
That is expected to fund cost-of-living support for households and businesses. asserted
That → expect → households
The Chancellor has acknowledged that Britain finds itself in a “tough” position ahead of the Budget, and is reported to be downplaying the prospect of major revenue-raising measures in his October 28 statement. asserted
Britain → acknowledge → statement
In a speech on Tuesday, she will urge Mr Burnham and his Chancellor to “live within our means”, and signpost the Tories’ package worth £70bn of cuts to spending – including to welfare and the Civil Service headcount – as a place to start. asserted
she → urge → place
Pre-Budget polling by Ipsos has meanwhile revealed that the majority of the public have a mixed opinion of the Chancellor, as 67% of them believe he is doing neither a good nor bad job. asserted
he → reveal → job
The survey of 1,077 Britons carried out between October 9 and 12 also found that 65% of the public is expecting some form of tax rise at the Budget. asserted
% → carry → Budget
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support