Stop moaning Myleene: you can afford to pay a Mansion Tax
Shadow prime minister Ed Miliband has a long list of failures behind him, including attracting criticism for the way he eats a bacon sandwich, but he probably wasn't prepared to be taken down by a former popstar.
Myleene Klass took Miliband to task over Labour's proposed Mansion Tax on homes over £2 million. But, while she made a good job of showing him up, I don't think she speaks for us all.
Klass argued that lots of 'little old grannies', who are asset-rich but cash-poor thanks to soaring house prices, would be forced to move because they would not be able to pay the tax.
For a start, this is false: the proposals include the ability for older people who can't afford to pay – such as Klass's 'little old grannies' – to defer paying the tax and for it to be taken out of their estate on their death.
This seems fair enough to me. Just because people are old doesn't mean they should be absolved of paying tax and using emotive terms like 'little old grannies' doesn't make Klass's argument any more valid.
Watch the video clip of Klass debating with Miliband (article continues below)
Arguing for the rich
To take this further, I don't think she's arguing for the old dears who have lived in their London homes for decades; I think she's arguing for herself and other wealthy people like her.
It was very telling that Klass believes £2 million will get you a 'garage' in London. Of course, she doesn't mean a garage but she does mean it won't buy you very much. Ask the average person on the street what they could buy with £2 million and they'll tell you it would be an awful lot.
Klass seems to think she is representing the everyman by rallying against a mansion tax but what she fails to understand is that much of the general public would like nothing more than wealthy people to be paying more.
Average people are facing stagnant wages and piles of debt, and a fifth of the population have no form of rainy day savings, does Klass think that we're going to lose sleep because a popstar has to pay a few grand a year for owning a huge house? If she can't work it out; the answer is no.
In fact Klass insisting that £2 million will only buy a garage in London tells us just one thing. If she can afford to buy a garage for that price, she can afford to pay a mansion tax.
What do you think? Do you agree with our writer's view that Myleenewas wrong to criticise the tax? Or do you think she made a fine case for why the tax is unfair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or get in touch on Facebook
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