The Feathers Hotel, in Helmsley, sits in the centre of the town, close to Helmsley Castle, the walled garden, independent shops, cafés and the edge of the North York Moors National Park.

The Feathers is a Grade II listed building on Market Place, first listed in 1985, and is described by the hotel as a 16th-century coaching inn offering 25 en-suite rooms, Yorkshire dining and the Pickwick Bar.

Its own history says the hotel opened as an inn in 1959, when Jack and Peggy Feather transformed two historic properties into a welcoming place to stay.

The Feathers, Helmsley (Image: TRIPADVISOR)

Before that, the main building had been a private home associated with generations of Helmsley medical practitioners, including Dr Francis Porter, who served the town until he died in 1933 at the age of 93.

Next door was Thorpe’s Cottage, once linked to three generations of market toll collectors from the Thorpe family.

The hotel later expanded in 1963 with the addition of the Pickwick Bar, now one of its best-known features.

The bar is famed for its Mouseman oakwork, with craftsmanship linked to Bob Cartwright, grandson of Robert Thompson, the celebrated “Mouseman” of Kilburn.

The hotel says it offers 25 individually styled rooms, with dog-friendly options, views of Helmsley Castle or the courtyard, and a base for exploring the North York Moors.

Tripadvisor lists The Feathers as number two of four hotels in Helmsley, with a 4.4 rating from more than 2,400 reviews and a 2026 Travellers’ Choice award.

Guests regularly mention the convenience of being in the middle of Helmsley, with the castle, shops, restaurants and walking routes nearby.

One recent visitor described the hotel as a “great location” with “pleasant helpful staff”, adding that Helmsley was a “great walking and historical area to enjoy”.

Another guest, staying in a room on the market square, praised the view and described Helmsley as a “cosy old town” with “nice shops and restaurants”.

The food and bar are also a major part of the hotel’s appeal.

One visitor who went for lunch said the atmosphere was “very nice”, the food was “excellent”, and the service was “extremely attentive and friendly”.

Another, visiting for a family celebration meal, described it as a “lovely country hotel serving amazing food” and said staff “couldn’t do enough” for them.

A third reviewer praised an evening meal as “excellent service and excellent food”, highlighting dishes including haddock and chips, chicken parmo and a lemon meringue sundae.

They added that the staff were “so friendly and attentive” and said the whole place had a “welcoming atmosphere”.

The hotel has also leaned into another growing part of the visitor market: dog-friendly stays.

It says dogs are welcomed with treats and comfy beds, with dog-friendly rooms and dining areas available.

That is a useful selling point in a town popular with walkers, countryside visitors and those heading into the North York Moors.

The hotel’s position also places it at the centre of wider interest in Helmsley.

The town has been named one of the UK’s best places to live, has launched a bid to become UK Town of Culture 2028, and has secured funding for high street and community improvements.

When my feature documentary Motherboard was released, I was in my late 50s. I had filmed it over 20 years, on five generations of smartphones, documenting the pain, joy and comedy of raising my son Jim alone.

When I became pregnant at 38, I found myself single and broke. I was working long hours as a freelance TV and film director. Jim’s father made it clear he did not want to be involved. I didn’t want my son to have two absent parents, so I quit my job overnight. Like many women in the creative industries, I paid a heavy motherhood penalty. It was more than 12 years before I got back to making films.

For five years I tried to raise finance for Motherboard through the usual markets. I eventually raised £60,000 from European TV channel Arte to begin editing Motherboard, only to lose it when we could not find match funding. The film that changed everything for me was Tangerine, which was famously shot on an iPhone 5 in 2014. Its energy and immediacy blew me away.

Around the same time, I came across an interview with director Ava DuVernay, the first black woman to win the best director prize for her film Middle of Nowhere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her advice to fellow filmmakers was to stop waiting for the right agent, financier or producer to “discover” you. “There’s no one coming … You have to do it yourself.”

And so my DIY filmmaking career began. I wanted to make a film about solo parenting in all its messiness, the highs, but also the lows. I began shooting with my smartphone, almost daily, for nearly two decades.

Jim grew up on camera. I filmed his first day at school and his last day at college. I filmed days out, dance-offs and bedtime routines. I filmed the difficult stuff too: the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer, Jim’s reaction to meeting his dad for the first time at 14 and the rollercoaster teen years that followed. The smartphone made that access possible. Jim liked its spontaneity and low-fi intimacy; sometimes he filmed me on his phone too.

With my smartphone, I was able to embrace director Werner Herzog’s advice to filmmakers: “Ask for forgiveness, rather than permission.” I could film on buses, trains and in hospitals without months of emails trying to secure access. During chemotherapy and radiotherapy, filming on a phone wasn’t intimidating and no one ever said “no”. Sometimes nurses even helped me shoot, pressing record as I disappeared into another CT scan.

Now I’m developing my second feature, an autobiographical documentary about navigating family, friendship and relationships in my 60s. I recently read that box office hits are four times more likely to star a talking animal than a woman over 60. I will keep filming with my smartphone and make it anyway.

Over the last 15 years, as a filmmaker and professor of digital arts, I have seen extraordinary shorts and features made on smartphones. Many were created by early career filmmakers who would have struggled to access industry funding without a smartphone and a minimal crew.

This matters because film finance still remains hard to raise if you are not from the white, middle-class, male demographic the industry tends to favour. In the UK and Ireland, only 16% of the 718 films released theatrically in 2025 were directed or co-directed by women or non-binary filmmakers.

This July, I’ve co-curated SMART, a one-day Smartphone filmmaking festival at Finsbury Park Picturehouse. The festival will celebrate filmmakers who have pioneered this way of working and got their films across the finish line despite the odds. I will also be screening Motherboard, followed by an audience Q&A with my son Jim and me.

The programme ranges from no-budget DIY shorts to internationally acclaimed features. It includes Shih-Ching Tsou’s Left-Handed Girl (2025), co-written and edited by Tangerine director Sean Baker – who won an Oscar for his film Anora in 2025 – and shot Tangerine on an iPhone with a small, agile crew.

Tsou has been producing films with Baker for 25 years, but Left-Handed Girl is the first feature she has directed and co-written. When I interviewed her recently, she acknowledged how long it had taken to get the film financed: “I had the idea in, like, early 2000. So that’s how crazy this whole journey is.”

Tsou is drawn to the freedom smartphones give filmmakers, but what really interests her is their access and intimacy. When she first considered setting her film in a Taipei night market, Taiwanese producers told her it would be impossible to shoot there for real. “They all said you need to build your night market. You have to hire all the extras,” she told me. “I’m like, no, that’s not how I’m going to do it.”

Instead, she shot on location with the iPhone 13 she still carries today. At first the 20 person crew and rig was too large, attracting crowds who stopped to watch. Only after reducing the crew size even further could Tsou successfully capture child actor Nina Ye running through the shops and kiosks of the night market as everyday life continued around her.

Left-Handed Girl beautifully captures a child’s point of view, something Tsou believes came from the smartphone’s agility. “iPhone captures ProRes 4K image, just like any professional camera, but it’s very small. It’s very mobile. So we can get so close to her. We can stay at her level.”

Several of the filmmakers showing shorts at SMART as part of the filmmaker panel discussion, are at the start of their careers. Tsou’s advice to them was simple, learn more than one skill. “You need to be able to write your own story and try to shoot your own story. And try to edit your own story. If you have these three basic skills, you don’t need anything. You don’t need money.”

No budget, then, is no longer an excuse. Smartphone filmmaking will not fix the inequalities of the film industry. But it does give more filmmakers a route around them and a chance to make the work the industry has too often failed to support.

Roundhay Park in Leeds is no stranger to live music – attracting superstars like Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson, and even Grammy winner Ed Sheeran in 2019, before the pandemic put a stop to the venue’s growth.

Now, American Express have transformed the space again ahead of the three-day Roundhay Festival which sees two days of pop music performers, followed by an affordable classic concert with Alfie Boe on the Sunday that hopes to introduce new people to the genre.

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It was Friday’s sold out opening that brought The Press to Leeds to see Cuban American rapper Pitbull – who has become something of a cult figure recently among internet users who have taken to attending his sold-out worldwide tours dressed in his signature look of white shirt, black trousers, bald head, goatee, and aviators.

He led a bill that also featured hit maker Jason Derulo, UK icon Tinie Tempah and 2000s Atlanta rapper and producer Lil Jon – a strong and consistent line-up which flows very well together for anyone (guilty!) who secretly enjoys a bit of pop rap.

Arriving straight from the office at around 5pm with fellow reporter Abby Backhouse in tow, we were slightly late and knew we’d miss the first act of the day – Lil Jon – but had time to spare for the second.

Reporters Abby Backhouse and Alice Kavanagh in their Pitbull outfits (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

Unfortunately, not knowing the area well, we fell victim to the road closures, which meant that we had to take a 45-minute walk from drop off spot to our entrance.

For anyone going, we’d recommend a drop off as close as possible to Tropical World where there are designated spots close to both main entrances.

Sadly, due to this mix-up, we ended up missing most of Tinie Tempah’s set and caught the end at a distance – which was disappointing as we had both been looking forward to hearing Pass Out (one of the first songs played).

Nonetheless, it was clear to hear that the crowd were loving it with cheers audible from a distance as the opening bars of Miami to Ibiza played. The set wrapped as we approached the gates with 2016 earworm, Girls Like, that took me right back to my time back at university.

Fans cheering for Mr Worldwide aka Pitbull (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

Spirits were high and the atmosphere inside the park was great from the off, with people of all ages dressed in bald caps and making most of the party feeling in the air.

After a quick scan of the venue map (it’s huge!), we split up in search of refreshments and were hit with a 45-minute wait at the bar and over an hour for food.

Some teething issues were to be expected with a new event, but even for festival standards, this was an exceptionally long wait and a little frustrating as whilst there was a second stage performer, they were not audible from where we were queueing.

After powering through this, with toasties and wine in hand, Abby and I donned our Pitbull outfits and settled down on the crest of the hill for Jason Derulo’s performance.

The crowd watching Jason Derulo (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

Despite the capacity for 70,000 people, something great about Roundhay is that it feels spacious and there was plenty of room to dance or just sit and enjoy, with many people settling down with picnic mats to enjoy the show.

Opening with Sexy for Me and Wiggle, Derulo appeared in a red leather jacket with a full band and a troupe of dancers ready to bring a set delivered exactly what you wanted from him – fun, and nostalgia, with high energy songs and performance that kept you watching.

Whilst Derulo’s hits may be a little one note, there is no doubt that he’s a remarkably talented performer with a fantastic voice and the encouragement to keep dancing served the atmosphere well.

His 14-song set ended on a high note with Ridin’ Solo, In My Head, Trumpets, Talk Dirty, and Want to Want Me played in quick succession which kept the crowd grooving along to every line.

Spirits were high after the show and despite the hour’s gap until Pitbull, there was no issues keeping up the party atmosphere going with groups dancing, chatting, and enjoying the vibes together.

One fan made a sign in anticipation of losing her bald capped friends (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

We also took this time to explore – chatting to other Pitbulls who had travelled far and wide (some driving from near Birmingham for the show) and taking in the fairground rides, pop up events, and different areas of the park that had been transformed into a slick looking site.

After this, we grabbed more refreshments at the VIP bar (two-minute queue with draught beer not canned – probably worth the cost!) and found our spot – readying ourselves for the spirit of Miami to take over Roundhay Park (which, spoiler alert, it very much did).

From the opening bars of Don’t Stop the Party to the last note of Give Me Everything, the set was banger after banger with Pitbull showing himself to be a remarkable showman with boundless energy that kept attention firmly placed on the stage.

The staging was fantastic and kept the fiesta moving, with thousands of bald capped fans enjoying booming rhythms, pyrotechnics, slick dancers, and big screen graphics that meant wherever you were in the park that ‘y’all were having a good time tonight’.

A fan with their own Mr Worldwide fan – one of Pitbull’s many nicknames (Image: Alice Kavanagh)

The words party and dalé (a Spanish phrase meaning go on, give it your all) were shouted every few lines and even during outfit changes, DJs kept everyone on their feet.

Eager to engage with his crowd, Pitbull gave a shoutout to all the northerners and was keen to remind everyone not only to party hard, but to focus on the things that matter in life.

Sections of the show were dedicated to his charity work (whilst still remaining fun and high energy), reminding everyone We Are One whilst singing his world cup anthem, and he also gave a shoutout to his mentor Lil Jon, who came back up on stage for Jumpin’.

Finishing up his set with some of the more well-known dance anthems like Fireball and Timber, the crowd were still as excited as they were for the first song with every single person on their feet and dancing along.

The resurgence of Pitbull might seem strange to some, but standing in Roundhay Park surrounded by thousands of other people in bald caps, the atmosphere was genuinely electric and the positivity was infectious – with strangers dancing together like old friends.

As Pitbull says: “This for everybody going through tough times. Believe me, been there, done that. But every day above ground is a great day, remember that .”

Dalé indeed, Mr Worldwide – it was a great day and I’d return for sure.

Thousands of police officers put themselves at risk on our behalf day in, day out. Their example shines through, especially when you remember that some are killed and many thousands more are injured in the line of duty every year.

Yet the bravery and dedication of these individuals cannot hide the disturbing contrast between the best of British policing and the very worst – failures exposed in a series of recent scandals.

This is why, supported by the Home Office, the independent Police Leadership Commission has concluded we need a root-and-branch overhaul of recruitment, training, appraisal and promotion. 

And that nowhere do we need more radical change than at the very top.

I thought, as a former Home Secretary, that I knew a great deal about policing. Yet I have learnt more co-chairing the nine months of this inquiry than I ever did in the nearly four years I was at the Home Office. 

I have learnt, for example, about the way that officers at all levels have lost confidence in those above them.

In a recent survey, only 16 per cent of constables felt comfortable discussing problems and challenging those above them. Yet the demands we put upon them continue to grow.

Constables are forced to step up as ‘temporary sergeants’ so frequently that the practice is now endemic.

The former home secretary believes that radical change is needed ‘at the very top’ of the police

Sergeants are crucial front-line leaders. Yet those constables who wish to make this important move permanent face an utterly outdated examination and qualification system – which means that nearly 50 per cent of candidates drop out before qualifying. 

Then there is the collection and use of police data, which is not quite in the Stone Age but not far off.

However, it is at the very highest level in policing that we’ve found the most troubling evidence of failure, particularly when it comes to promotions.

I don’t use the word ‘nepotism’ lightly because it implies deep-seated preferential treatment for those close to the senior officers making the decisions. 

But I’m afraid it’s true. We took detailed evidence from round-table discussions.

We had 484 submissions for our ‘call to evidence’, and nearly 1,800 sergeants and inspectors responded to a survey.

And the message was the same: there is a complete lack of confidence in the promotion ladder, and a reluctance to step on to the next rung of leadership.

The ‘pipeline’ of those coming through to senior grades is woefully inadequate. Our recommendations aim to encourage and support high-quality potential leaders to come forward.

To do so, they need to be confident that they will receive support, and, at the same time, that they will be held to account. 

The decisions they make will often be challenged. This is why top leadership must be trusted to have the ethics and decency to inspire those working for them.

Sadly, the evidence – as so many incidents have highlighted – leaves much to be desired. 

From a cohort of 43 chief constables and a further 220 senior officers, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has, since 2018, received 107 referrals involving chief officers, leading to 78 investigations.

Eight chief constables or former chief constables are under investigation or awaiting disciplinary proceedings.

Our findings endorse the Government’s police reform white paper that the new national police service should incorporate measures that provide a transparent selection and appointment process. 

You can rest assured that our 27 recommendations deal directly with the shocking events at the Charing Cross custody suite in London – which has resulted in ten officers being dismissed for thuggish behaviour.

Let us celebrate those who are deeply committed and do take pride in their job. And let us ensure, too, that this top-to-bottom reset creates the new national police service that the people of these islands deserve.

We need to know a revitalised force will be there alongside us in our neighbourhoods and homes – giving us confidence and keeping us safe.

By ABUL TAHER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

Published: 00:30 BST, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 01:42 BST, 5 July 2026

Bridget Phillipson has been accused by a former neighbour of ‘exaggerating’ her claims of a poverty-stricken upbringing.

The intervention comes after the Education Secretary described The Mail on Sunday’s revelation that her family made a 900 per cent profit selling their council house, as a ‘manufactured smear’.

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Ms Phillipson, 42, told Times Radio their property in Washington, Tyne and Wear, was in a ‘terrible state,’ with no upstairs heating and rotten windows when her mother bought it under right-to-buy in 1990.

She added: ‘There was no prospect of there being any improvement in our living conditions unless [my mother Clare] took that decision to buy our home because of a sustained failure to invest in that house.’

But others who lived on the street at the time have disputed Ms Phillipson’s account, insisting the council houses were properly heated and well maintained.

Tracey Morgan, 61, has lived a few doors from the former Phillipson home since 1989, a year before the family bought their council house. 

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‘The upstairs rooms had electric bar heaters, and downstairs rooms had radiators heated by back boilers,’ she said.

Coal-fired back boilers provided hot water for washing and central heating. Ms Morgan also said she could not recall rotting windows on the street, saying there were sash windows at the time.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson walking to No 10 for a cabinet meeting on June 9, 2026

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This is the terraced home in Washington, Tyne and Wear where the Bridget Phillipson grew up

However, she said the local Sunderland Council did maintain the properties, and in 1996, all council tenants were moved out of their homes for four months so that the houses could be renovated.

Ms Morgan added: ‘I remember seeing Clare and her daughter, I thought they looked comfortable, and not poor.’

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she was sceptical of the minister’s claims.

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‘I think a lot of this stuff is being fabricated. These are old houses, but as long as I’ve lived here it’s been fine,’ she said.

Clare Phillipson is believed to have moved to the street in the early 1980s, with her daughter living there since her birth in 1983. 

Ms Phillipson bought a former council house three doors away in 2006 with her then partner, now husband, Lawrence Dimery, before the couple sold it in 2016.

Her mother sold the family home in 2023 and is thought to live eight miles away, close to her daughter’s constituency home.

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Last night a source close to Bridget Phillipson said: ‘Claims by apparent neighbours as to the state of their homes in the 90s have no bearing on the state of Bridget’s mum’s home in the 1980s.’ 

Mr Ward-Jackson argued the UK’s “economic problem is, at its core, a risk-aversion crisis,” with capital gains tax relief “one of the few mechanisms that helps correct” UK founders’ disadvantage compared to their American counterparts, acknowledging “that investing or building a start-up means taking a huge risk and waiting years for a return”.

The business has been family-run for more than 100 years and its farm shop opened in 2024

A Cambridgeshire ‘farm to fork’ business has taken the crown for the best farm shop in the region in the 2026 Velvet Food & Drink Awards. Willow Grange’s farm shop in Chittering has received the accolade, beating competition across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

Willow Grange has been family-run for more than 100 years, with its farm shop opening in October 2024. The business operates as a working farm and is also a wedding venue, can host events and has accommodation.

The business was put forward for the award last year and Michelle Alston, the judge, said Willow Grange had made “significant improvements” since its previous nomination. She said it was clear to her that “a lot of care and investment has gone into the farm shop”.

The judge added: “This was very evident as soon as I stepped inside. The shop floor was spotlessly clean and merchandised to a high standard. The product range has increased significantly and is now offering customers a great choice of high-quality products.

“The staff were excellent; they seemed well-trained in customer service and happy to be there. One staff member behind the cheese counter was a real highlight; they acknowledged me immediately, were very friendly, and their product knowledge was excellent, a real credit to their store!”

Judge Alston said she felt Willow Grange had “the best value for money”. This component combined with the “excellent staff and increased product range” set the farm shop ahead of the competition.

Reacting to the news, Kirsty Blackwell, 28, assistant manager for Willow Grange said: “We have had a lot of growth and expansion in the business and we still have lots to come this year. It was really nice that she had seen that. We were really pleased that it had been recognised and all of our hard work had been worth it.”

The farm shop has a butchers counter which is stocked with its own Hereford cows. Ms Blackwell said what makes the farm shop so special is that they “really love to support local businesses” and they have the opportunity to show customers the “farm to fork process”.

She added: “They [customers] can see exactly where the cows are living, how they are looked after and really know exactly where their meat is coming from.”

The farm offers a range of items including an alcohol selection, crisps, confectionary, cheese counter, deli counter, fresh produce and coffee from local roasters including its own exclusive blend.

It also has a home and gift section where visitors can find minimal refill products, candles, a pet section and terrariums which are made by a local lady in Ely.

MOUNT VERNON, Va. (AP) — The people who were about to become United States citizens sat in folding chairs on George Washington’s lawn at Mount Vernon on Saturday, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence.

The sun beat down and the well-dressed crowd was a flutter of paddle fans stamped with American flags. Their families clung to the shade of the trees on either side, where one woman had two American flags stuck through her ponytail.

“Well, good morning, everybody,” said Anne Neal Petri, the regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

“Good morning!” an excited crowd returned.

“And Happy Birthday, United States of America!” exclaimed Petri.

There were 150 people from 50 globe-spanning countries sitting in front of the small stage as they prepared to be sworn in as U.S. citizens on the July Fourth holiday and America’s 250th birthday. Among them was U.S. Marine Sgt. Diakaria Sangare from Guinea, who attended in his pressed Dress Blue uniform with three medals pinned to his left breast.

Sangare had served two deployments, and, like all assembled, had gone through the long citizenship process: The test, interviews, green cards and biometrics. Others in the crowd, it was said, came from countries bathed in violence. Some fled persecution.

After a speech about Washington, the crowd was asked to rise for the national anthem.

They did. Their hats came off and their hands covered their hearts. The paddle fans calmed.

The singer belted the words: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” — as Sangare held his right hand in a rigid salute, his face sober.

As the song concluded, the soon-to-be citizens clapped and returned to their seats, while another speaker asked them to stand and remain standing when their country was called.

“Albania.”

A woman in the front row with long black hair rose with a broad grin, a small U.S. flag in her hand.

“Bangladesh.”

A man in a black shirt stood. The Albanian woman, looking back, beamed at him.

It went on for 50 countries, through China and El Salvador and Iraq and Mongolia, as people stood, sometimes smiling, sometimes sedate.

At “Morocco,” a man in the back thrusts his fists in the air in support. A young boy looked up at him and then did the same, a little flag in his fist.

Then the crowd, with hands raised, recited an Oath of Allegiance, not so different from the oath Washington signed in 1778.

“Congratulations,” they were told. “You just became U.S. citizens.”

There was applause and laughter, then the Pledge of Allegiance. Sangare, his hand now over his heart, closed his eyes for a moment.

Nearby stood a tulip poplar tree, planted at Washington’s direction 250 years ago, that had lived through America’s history.

The next speaker, historian Douglas Bradburn, pointed it out in his speech before the day’s special guest.

“All the stories that are part of you, now become American stories,” said Bradburn. “When people ask me what are American people like, I now can talk about you, and your stories.”

“The second side of that is that, now, all America’s stories, and our history, are your stories. The father of your country is George Washington.”

The first president, it turned out, was the next speaker.

As he was introduced, the re-enactor stood by a massive draped American flag, a sword scabbard on his hip. Then he donned the stage, doffed his cap to the audience, and began to speak.

“Today the name of ‘American’ belongs to you every bit as much as it does to me,” he said. He spoke to their arduous journeys to this point and their histories, now merged with America.

“So, my fellow Americans, to you, I say simply: ‘Welcome home’.”

Afterward, Sangare, the U.S. Marine, posed for a portrait, hands clasped in front of him, holding the American flag paddle fan, his Marine cap slightly askew.

“I just became a United States citizen,” he said, his emotions pushing out in an earnest smile.

____ Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.

Andy Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive ‘mansion tax’ regime, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Plans to lower the threshold for the extra levy to include homes worth £1.5million would mean more than 150,000 families – particularly in the South of England – being hit with four–figure tax hikes.

It could prove a double whammy for homeowners in the region, as Mr Burnham is also considering replacing council tax with a system based on land values likely to leave people living in the South paying up to three times as much as those in the North, where property is generally cheaper.

Sources told this newspaper that Mr Burnham is considering lowering the threshold for Chancellor Rachel Reeves‘s so–called mansion tax – due to hit in April 2028 – from £2 million to £1.5 million.

In parts of London, a relatively modest four–bedroomed terraced house would fall above that threshold.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour‘s ‘politics of envy’.

It comes as the prime minister–in–waiting faces increasing pressure from backbenchers and unions to levy ‘wealth taxes’ on the middle classes to cover the spiralling cost of welfare and public services.

Experts predict that forcing families to pay the mansion tax will raise only a relatively modest £250 million a year – but it could cause extra hardship for striving families in a cost–of–living crisis, damage a fragile property market and pave the way for greater tax raids in the future.

Pictured: A £1.6million home in south-west London. Burnham is set to launch a financial raid on swathes of middle–class homeowners by dragging them into the punitive ‘mansion tax’ regime

Under Ms Reeves’s current plans, owners of homes worth more than £2 million will be hit with what’s officially called the ‘high value council tax surcharge’ of at least £2,500 a year – rising in bands to £7,500 for properties worth more than £5 million.

Around 180,000 properties would be affected by these plans, but Michael Bruce, CEO of estate agent Purplebricks, said: ‘An estimated 150,000 additional households could be caught if the threshold falls to £1.5 million. If the Government wants growth, this is the wrong place to start.

‘Housing is one of the UK’s biggest economic drivers, yet the market is already fragile. Policies that discourage people from moving don’t just affect homeowners – they hit buyers, sellers, tradespeople, retailers and the wider economy.’

The biggest pressure for new taxes on homes predominantly situated in the South is coming from Labour MPs in the party’s former heartlands in the Midlands and North.

The Unite union – historically Labour’s largest financial backer – also called for Mr Burnham to introduce wealth taxes when, as widely expected, he replaces Sir Keir Starmer in No10 on July 20.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘We must bite the bullet on a wealth tax to ensure our public services are protected… The choice should not be about whether to defend our nation or pay for schools, hospitals or roads.

‘We must put workers and communities first.’

Last week Mr Burnham strongly hinted that he was planning to increase taxes, saying that while he would ‘stick by the manifesto promises’ not to hike income tax, VAT and national insurance, there was ‘some room for movement on tax’.

Pictured: A £1.85million home in south-west London which could higher taxes under Burnham

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Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the plans as another example of Labour’s ‘politics of envy’

He vowed to cut business rates for pubs, music venues and independent high street shops, funded by higher levies on warehouse operators such as Amazon and on owners of empty high street properties.

Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Andy Burnham is making the same mistakes Keir Starmer made, putting up taxes, hitting working families, when we should be cutting spending. Labour can change their leader but the problem will always be the Labour Party and its politics of envy.’

The spectre of the mansion tax has already hit the property market, reducing the number of homes for sale above £2 million, which in turn has ramped up the pressure for a lower threshold.

It is said that original plans for a mansion tax set the threshold at £1.5 million, but it was raised amid fears that Labour voters and public sector professionals would be hit.

Meanwhile, the Labour Red Wall Group of more than 40 MPs has called for council tax and stamp duty to be replaced with a flat annual levy of 0.48 per cent of a property’s value– a plan Mr Burnham has previously endorsed. It would mean a property valued at £500,000 would be taxed at £2,400 a year

Such a system would mean Southerners paying £1,650 a year on average, while Northerners would have bills of just £600 a year, analysis by the Daily Telegraph found.

Polling by Lord Ashcroft, reported on Page 10 of today’s MoS, reveals that voters regard Mr Burnham as more Left–wing than Sir Keir by a margin of nearly two to one.