Rachel Reeves' latest blunder could make millions of pensioners poorer and angrier, and it's all because she didn't have to do it. Her endless tax raids on the housing market have trashed London property prices, and the rest of the country will follow suit. This is a huge blow for pensioner homeowners, as the value of their homes is being steadily whittled away. The myth that property will inexorably rise and create a valuable store of wealth for later life has finally been punctured. Yet Britons still cling to this notion, building their retirement around it. The Tories started the rot, but Reeves delivered the ultimate blow by treating homes like everything else she touches: as cash cows to be milked. On her watch, stamp duty has risen, first-time buyer support has been scrapped, buy-to-let landlords have been hammered, a mansion tax has been lined up, and foreign buyers have been scared off by Labour's ideological assault on wealth. Talented young people are getting out if they can, and entrepreneurs no longer want to set up shop here. London has lost its charm, and the result is a staggering 18% plunge in prices over the past year, according to the Land Registry. This will spread, and it's a disaster for younger buyers who got on the ladder in the past five years, as they face falling into negative equity. Half-witted lefties will celebrate house price declines, but builders, plumbers, electricians, furniture manufacturers, kitchen makers, and household goods retailers will be destroyed. Construction firms are already collapsing. The brutal irony is that people still can't afford to buy, as wages have been "devoured" by inflation. For decades, chancellors did everything in their power to protect the property market, but now Rachel Reeves has come along and destroyed it. Her only hope is that the Bank of England rides to her rescue with a string of interest rate cuts. If it doesn't, her reputation will be destroyed alongside the single biggest store of personal wealth Britons have ever known. And Labour will never be forgiven.
