Reform candidate wants to ‘tax people who don’t have children’
Reform UK’s by-election candidate has raised a few eyebrows by proposing that childless people should be taxed extra.
Matt Goodwin, Reform’s candidate for the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester, suggested ways to address plummeting birth rates in the UK in a blog post in 2023.
In the post discovered by The Independent, Goodwin talked about imposing a ‘negative child benefit tax’ on people ‘who don’t have offspring.’
While he suggested the tax would affect both men and women, this kind of levy would be likely to disproportionately hit women who might feel pressured to get pregnant to avoid the tax for themselves or their partner.
The fantastical suggestion sparked comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel and TV series ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ in which fertile women are enslaved to produce children.
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Goodwin wrote that the government should ‘remove personal income tax for women who have two or more children.’
He also suggested having a ‘pro family culture’ by creating a national day for parenthood and the King sending a message to families when they have a third child.
The blog post said: ‘Entrenching the importance of the family in the curriculum. Switching child benefit to incentivise families to have more children. Introducing a ‘negative child benefit’ tax for those who don’t have offspring.
He went on to write that there should be ‘prioritising’ for ‘British families when building new housing developments.’
Lucy Powell, Labour’s deputy leader, labelled his idea as ‘so ludicrous’ and ‘something out of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.’
‘It would punish millions of women and strip them of their basic dignity to choose,’ she told The Independent.
She accused Nigel Farage’s Reform of focusing on division ‘rather than bringing people together’ and urged voters to choose Labour in the by-election.
Full list of Gorton and Denton by-election candidates
Here are all the candidates running for the Gorton and Denton seat in the February by-election in alphabetical order.
- Nick Buckley MBE (Advance UK)
- Charlotte Cadden (Conservative Party)
- Dan Clarke (Libertarian Party)
- Matt Goodwin (Reform UK)
- Sebastian Moore (Social Democratic Party)
- Sir Oink-a-lot (Monster Raving Loony Party)
- Joseph O’Meachair (Rejoin EU Party)
- Jackie Pearcey (Liberal Democrats)
- Hannah Spencer (Green Party)
- Angeliki Stogia (Labour)
- Hugo Wils (Communist League)
Farage said Reform’s campaign in the ward is off to a ‘very, very good start.’
Meanwhile, the Green Party’s leader Zack Polanski said the by-election will be a race between the Greens and Reform.
The by-election was called after the former Labour MP, Andrew Gwynne, stepped down. It will be held on February 26.
Reform’s spokesperson said: ‘This is Labour being disingenuous once again. This is an idea that was first suggested by the respected demographer Paul Morland as part of a range of measures that should be debated and discussed across developed nations if we are serious about dealing with our looming demographic crisis.
‘The Labour government has got its head in the sand when it comes to thinking about the long-term challenges facing Britain. We need a grown-up, mature debate about how we can encourage people to have more children and support British families.’
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