You may not agree, but l fear for the future of our magnificent country like never before. 

Maybe it's a view shaped by age and increasing bouts of grumpiness. It may also reflect my political leanings, although in my past I was temporarily blown away by Tony Blair and his promise that 'things can only get better'.

And after the Liz Truss debacle and Rishi Sunak's insipid leadership, I did fleetingly think it was time for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to show us what they were made of.

Yet that fleeting thought (lasting milliseconds) has long evaporated into the ether. 

Thirteen months on from Labour's thumping General Election triumph, I believe we are in danger of being emasculated by a tirade of political dogma. 

All the things that make the UK a wonderful place to live, strive, thrive and retire in are under threat. 

Our reward for a lifetime of hard work and thrift – based on 'conservative' rather than 'Conservative' values – is to be taxed to the hilt by Labour.

Yes, it's retribution time and boy are we going to pay a price for having done everything within our means to ensure we can travel through the rest of our lives with a degree of financial security.

The wealth we have assiduously accumulated over our working lives is at risk. Everything from our tax friendly cash Isas, savings and investments, through to our works pensions – and now, it seems, our home.

Welcome, dear readers, to the Socialist Republic of the UK, where thrift is no longer encouraged but seen as a mark of privilege and class – and a source of revenue for Labour to either redistribute to those less deserving, or to spend on pay rises to members of those unions who lick its back.

I imagine my dad, a self-made individual who was adopted at birth and fought his way to the top of his profession as a salesman in the rag trade, would be turning in his grave if he knew what Labour was up to. As indeed Lady Thatcher, his heroine, would be.

Although we will have to wait until the Autumn Budget for the gory details of this tax assault on Middle England, it's not difficult to predict what is coming our way.

There is every chance that the annual allowance for cash Isas will be slashed to smithereens.

Our ability to build a half decent pension pot will be compromised if tax relief on contributions is scaled back – while the amount of tax-free cash we can draw from our pension from age 55 might well be reduced.

If access to tax-free cash is restricted, it will represent a betrayal of monstrous proportion given most of us have saved on the understanding that a quarter (not a capped amount) of our pension pot would be available tax-free.

But it's the noise around Labour taxing our homes that I find most frightening (Dad would be spinning, not turning, in his grave). It would represent a step too far.

Our home has always been our financial castle. The biggest and most important purchase we ever make. Our bedrock. Our route to financial independence in later life.

Initially, it involves thrift and sacrifice while we scrimp and save for a deposit to put down on a first home. 

Then, patience and financial discipline is required while we pay down the mortgage.

Finally, maybe after a few home moves, there is overriding joy when the loan is paid off and our home is finally all ours. 

For many, our property ends up as a quasi-pension with downsizing in later life allowing us to free up equity to boost our retirement income.

So, a long journey, fraught with financial danger, but ultimately rewarding.

Yet Labour wants to wreck the party. It's after a share of the spoils – and is contemplating the unthinkable: charging capital gains tax (CGT) on the profit we make when we come to sell our home.

Currently, our home is exempt from CGT which is charged at either 18 per cent (basic rate taxpayers) or 24 per cent (higher rate) on profits made from the sale of other assets such as shares or a second property.

But Labour is controversially looking to remove the exemption, albeit only on homes above £1.5 million to begin with. 

According to a report in The Times, it could generate an average tax take on sales of these high-value homes just short of £200,000 – with 120,000 homeowners who are higher rate taxpayers potentially subject to the tax.

Such a tax would be lapped up by class warriors such as Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. But it mustn't happen. Why?

First, it would open the door for Labour to come back for more by reducing the £1.5 million threshold, ensnaring more homeowners in the tax.

Secondly, there is every chance that CGT rates will be raised by Labour in line with income taxes: something Rayner (again) is keen on. So, the tax grab could be even more wicked than The Times has spelt out.

Thirdly, it would harm the housing market with many elderly homeowners responding to the tax by sitting put rather than downsizing, making it more difficult for others to move up the property ladder. But most importantly, imposing CGT on home sales would represent a betrayal – which homeowners would never forgive Labour for.

As I said at the start, I fear for the future. Do you?

How could John Lewis miss interest rate cut? 

It seems the interest rate cut to 4 per cent has been missed by John Lewis Money, the financial arm of the much-loved retailer chaired by Jason Tarry. 

Bizarrely, it has responded to the cut by telling credit card customers it is raising the interest rate on uncleared balances by an average of 2.5 per cent.

Using cards at an ATM or to buy a lottery ticket will also cost more: 5 per cent rather than 3 per cent, with the minimum fee increasing from £3 to £4.

John Lewis batted away my request for an explanation in the direction of NewDay which provides the card on its behalf. NewDay took over responsibility for John Lewis's credit cards in 2023 and caused a right furore by asking customers to reapply with some being rejected or having spending limits slashed.

NewDay said the move to raise charges (from October 21) was to ensure it could provide a 'product that gives [customers] great rewards and benefits [vouchers on some purchases]'.

I trust Mr Tarry, possibly distracted by the resignation of the boss of John Lewis's super-market firm Waitrose, is keeping an eye on NewDay. A hike at a time of falling interest rates seems very un-John Lewis like.