Fairness Foundation

Getting down to brass tax Helen Miller, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, talks to Will Snell about how to build a better tax system

@helenmiller.bsky.social, Director of @theifs.bsky.social, talks to Will Snell about how to build a better tax system 👇

school blackboard that reads: 2 Child Limit Removal

Today, alongside 60+ organisations, we’ve welcomed progress on the Bill to remove the two-child limit: cpag.org.uk/news/stateme...

The policy was always unfair, arbitrarily penalising children in bigger families.

Progress on its removal is a welcome step for families across the UK.

New, with @fairness.bsky.social : HMRC surveys suggest tax avoidance & evasion may be becoming more acceptable among the youngest cohort of UK taxpayers, esp men 16-34. Changes are small so far, but we need to start asking if it's real, and why it's happening

Are young people losing faith in the tax system? A joint post with Mike Lewis at Taxwatch about some concerning HMRC survey data

Are young people losing faith in the tax system? A joint post with Mike Lewis at @taxwatch.bsky.social about some concerning HMRC survey data

Poverty is deepening.

🔎 Our #UKPoverty2026 report was launched this morning.

People in very deep poverty now make up the biggest group of people in poverty, at 6.8 million people.

This is unacceptable for the fifth richest country in the world, and it has consequences.

NEW: January Roundup 👇

💰 Money in politics (@spotlightcorruption.org
@transparencyuk.bsky.social @oxfamgb.bsky.social)

🤝 Fairness & social cohesion (@moreincommonuk.bsky.social, @uclpolicylab.bsky.social)

⚖️ A fairer economy (@balancedeconomy.bsky.social)

🔗 www.faircomment.co.uk/p/january-20...

January 2026 roundup Examining the powerful forces and vested interests shaping our economy, and how fairness can restore social cohesion

January 2026 roundup: Examining the powerful forces and vested interests shaping our economy, and how fairness can restore social cohesion

Making the case for bolder fiscal #devolution 📊
👇 In the latest blog - Jason Bunting of @fairness.bsky.social explores how local fiscal autonomy could help tackle regional inequality in the UK’s highly centralised economy 🌍
Read more: www.radixbigtent.org.uk/news-comment... #RegionalInequality

Tax the super rich. It's time to win.

When even millionaires, like us, recognise that extreme wealth has cost everyone else everything else, there can be no doubt that society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice.
We want our democracies back. We want our communities back. We want our future back.

🎥 "The situation we have at the end of the day is... whatever rules you have, all of this conversation is about policing the perimeter."

Yesterday @duncanhames.bsky.social gave evidence to parliament and explained to MPs and Peers why caps on donations are key to ending undue influence in politics.

📈 New research shows billionaire wealth surging to its highest level ever

⚖️ The findings expose the UK’s extreme wealth inequality: the richest 56 people now hold more wealth than 27 million people combined, undermining both economic + political equality

👉 Full report below

Unbalanced Claire Godfrey, Executive Director of the Balanced Economy Project, talks to Jack Jeffrey about how concentrated corporate power threatens democracy, innovation, and fairness

Unbalanced: Claire Godfrey, Executive Director of @balancedeconomy.bsky.social, talks to Jack Jeffrey about how concentrated corporate power threatens democracy, innovation, and fairness

Government policy sometimes prioritises the wishes of certain groups over the public interest. This is partly driven by unfair influence on decision-making. But what other factors are at play? www.faircomment.co.uk/p/the-power-...

Latest YouGov poll shows the public want an end to big money in politics

🆕 POLLING

New YouGov polling shows 67% of the public want political donations capped at £50k or less.

The public has spoken loud and clear – it's time to get big money out of UK politics.

Read more ⤵️
https://www.transparency.org.uk/news/latest-yougov-poll-shows-public-want-end-big-money-politics

Fairness is key to a more cohesive Britain Fairness isn’t just a moral ideal. It is one of the civic conditions that makes collective life possible.

Fairness isn’t just a moral ideal. It is one of the civic conditions that makes collective life possible. A guest article by @emekaforbes.bsky.social

skyscrapers in London's City with text overlay that reads High Pay Findings

📈New research from the @highpaycentre.bsky.social shows that FTSE 100 CEOs earn the median full-time worker’s annual salary in just over two days.

Sensible measures such as worker representation on boards should be advanced without delay.

🔗 www.theguardian.com/business/202...

December 2025 roundup Exploring fiscal fairness, political transparency and tax accountability as we wrap up 2025

What we wrote about last month and how others covered the same issues: fiscal fairness, political transparency and tax accountability

Twelve months of fairness Prepare to feel festive?

Twelve months of fairness: prepare to feel festive?

Yesterday’s Treasury Committee questions, including from @bobbywdean.bsky.social and John Glen MP, highlight important concerns about whether the decision to freeze income tax rates was truly fair.

🔗That's an issue we also explored in our Budget response here: www.faircomment.co.uk/p/budget-202...

A tourism levy is welcome, but a fairer Yorkshire needs real fiscal power - Jason Bunting The Chancellor’s decision to devolve powers for a tourism levy to Yorkshire’s Mayors in the Budget was greeted with understandable enthusiasm. York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith hailed it as ...

You can also read our piece in the @yorkshirepost.co.uk here: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...

graphic of map of Britain and Ireland with text overlay reading New Report: A Fair Share

📢 Our new report sets out a clear message: a fairer economy demands real fiscal powers for local places.

The Budget's move to devolve tourism-levy powers was welcome, but it's a small down-payment on the long-term vision we need.

🔗Full report: fairnessfoundation.com/a-fair-share

We’ve teamed up with @transparencyuk.bsky.social to write this joint piece on the case for caps on political donations.

It follows new TIUK polling that shows 84% of people believe wealthy individuals use political donations to advance their personal interests.

Fair politics needs fair limits👇

‘Fair politics needs fair limits’ – LabourList What’s the most valuable thing money can buy? Increasingly, people in Britain fear the answer might be democracy itself. For a government elected on a…

For a fair system where politicians are accountable to the public, not just those who bankroll them we need limits on political donations.

It is now vital that the Government builds on this momentum, including by tackling the inequalities that continue to act as barriers to opportunity across society and the economy.

The Government's moral mission on this issue, particularly in lifting the two-child limit, demonstrates leadership and genuine long-term thinking.

It also recognises that the benefits of lifting children out of poverty will be felt for years to come.

text overlay says child poverty strategy launched on top of chalkboard and stack of books, pens and an apple

Today's publication of the Child Poverty Strategy marks a landmark moment in building a fairer society.

The measures announced today will help arrest the deep unfairness of children growing up locked out of opportunity, while their families struggle to afford the basics. 🧵

Won’t somebody please think of Britain’s poor £2m homeowners? Oh, wait – everyone already is | Jonathan Liew Contrast the furious reaction to Rachel Reeves’s ‘mansion tax’ to the response offered to those living with real housing injustice: indifference, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

"Who gets to complain about housing policy in this country? Depends where you live, and how much your house is worth." Great analysis from @jonathanliew.bsky.social in @theguardian.com at www.theguardian.com/commentisfre..., linked to our budget commentary at www.faircomment.co.uk/p/budget-202...

Resourcing HMRC is incredibly good value: every £1 for tax compliance brings in £23. Private-sector orgs dream about ROI like that.

But some everyday/automated tax enforcement is error-prone, or hits the poorest hardest.

We need to measure tax **enforcement** incidence.

UK Budget 2025: Fiscal deficit or democratic deficit? Expert analysis on the 2025 UK Budget. Reeves avoided important tax reforms, with the wealthy still not paying their fair share (income tax, capital gains, etc)

“If Reeves and Starmer have the political will to abolish the two-child limit, they should be able to muster the same boldness for reforming the tax system”

– Will Snell of @fairness.bsky.social on the UK Budget in our latest blog post #LSEInequalitiesBlog

We need HMRC to work better for ordinary taxpayers Both fairness and our public finances depend on it (a guest post by Mike Lewis at TaxWatch)

We need HMRC to work better for ordinary taxpayers: both fairness and our public finances depend on it. A guest post by Mike Lewis, Director of @taxwatch.bsky.social www.faircomment.co.uk/p/we-need-hm...