What tough budget call would Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell have made for growth?

Asked by Steph McGovern of The Rest Is Money, Rory Stewart said he would lure non-doms back to the UK with a flat annual fee, perhaps £500,000, in exchange for relief from inheritance tax. Alastair Campbell would have promised a white paper on the costs of Brexit and eased the employer national insurance rise, framed as a drive to get young people into work and cut the welfare bill. Stewart also floated raising the top rate of income tax to fund defence against Russia.

• Campbell thought the non-dom idea might have worked when Labour first took office but would be harder now.
• Stewart conceded an income tax rise would break a manifesto promise Andy Burnham has said he will keep.

▸In their words

“I would have found a way of attracting non-DOMs back to the UK.” Rory Stewart · at 51:49 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Rest Is Politics (2026-11-03). Read the whole episode summary →

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