Business Secretary Vince Cable tells Sky News’ Murnaghan programme that some controversial Lib Dem tax proposals to hit the rich are “wacky”. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. www.ft.com Vince Cable has played down the idea that buy-to-let investors could be caught in the net of the Liberal Democrats’ mansion tax. A mansion tax on homes worth more than £2m has long been a prized policy of the third party as a totemic symbol of its left-leaning credentials. Yet its Tory partners have consistently prevented it being introduced in government since the coalition was formed in 2010. High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. www.ft.com The party deliberately moved the threshold up from £1m to £2m to limit the 1 per cent annual levy to a small number of the most wealthy in areas such as Mayfair and Kensington. But an internal consultation paper being drawn up by officials says there “may be merit” in applying the levy to property portfolios of £2m-plus — and not just single residences. That would catch thousands of buy-to-let investors and people with holiday …
