In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Director of Communications Callum Price interviews Morgan Wild, Chief Policy Adviser at Labour Together. Morgan explains how Labour Together operates as a private company that exists purely to help the Labour Party govern and win elections, combining deep public opinion research with policy expertise to provide political solutions rather than purely technocratic answers. The conversation covers Labour’s pivot from post-financial crisis demand-side economics to a supply-side growth agenda focused on policy stability, land use regulation, and public investment.
Morgan discusses Britain’s fundamental problems - the lack of ability to build anything and weak growth in second cities - and assesses Labour’s performance on planning reform and infrastructure. He argues that markets generate enormous wealth and are the best mechanism for allocating scarce resources, a view he suggests most in the Labour Party share. The discussion covers the political calculations behind economic policy decisions, with Morgan explaining why some technically sound reforms like VAT base-broadening may not be worth the political pain despite their economic benefits.
The interview concludes with debates on wealth taxation, stamp duty reform, and the triple lock pension. Morgan dismisses popular wealth tax proposals as unworkable because capital is mobile, instead advocating for property and land value taxation reforms. He acknowledges the triple lock as an incredible long-term liability that any government will ultimately have to reform, and endorses proposals for gradual stamp duty replacement with annual property taxes over a ten-year transition period.
The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.
