Tory Lord Says Baby-Boomers Must Pay More Tax

Efforts to increasingly tax one of the Conservative Party’s core bases of support could prove a risky strategy for Theresa May.

David Willetts, a senior Conservative member of the House of Lords on March 5 called on British Prime Minister Theresa May to raise the level of taxation on so-called "Baby-boomers" as a means of continuing to keep social welfare programs in Britain funded.

hello Tax baby boomers' wealth, David Willetts says — Lord Willetts says his generation must "reach into our pockets" or see their children face soaring taxes. https://t.co/CQLfp9dg8q

— saligia (@saligia98) March 5, 2018

​Calling for the rate of taxation of up to 15 percent in order to plug what he projected to be a future funding gap of US$83 billion for the welfare state, Baron Willetts said it was only a fair contribution from a generation currently sitting on US$13 trillion worth of wealth and property in the United Kingdom alone.

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The "Baby-Boom" occurred roughly between the end of the Second World War and the late 1960s. This demographic, now moving into old age has increasingly formed the backbone of political support for Conservative parties across the developed world, who have enacted policies enabling boomers to own multiple properties and retire with generous pension and tax arrangements.

At the last general election at least 58 percent of voters aged in their sixties and 69 percent aged 70 and over voted for the Conservative Party, according to statistics from YouGov, potentially making any attempted raising of the tax burden politically dangerous for Prime Minister Theresa May.