Lisa Nandy has suggested that discussions on taxation must focus on “unearned wealth” and “polluters”, rather than just on high incomes.

Speaking to Andrew Neil in a BBC interview, the leadership hopeful answered a series of questions about her political views and policy positions.

Nandy also talked about whether she would re-nationalise Royal Mail, renew Trident, abolish tuition fees and what the top rate of tax should be.

The Wigan MP said: “We talk a lot about taxing earned wealth. I would like to get into a discussion about other forms of taxation, unearned wealth.”

She added: “I would put much higher taxes on polluters, it cannot be right that we tax income more than we tax people who are destroying our environment.”

Yes or no? Lisa Nandy asked by @afneil: • Abolish university tuition fees?

• Renationalise Royal Mail?

• Scrap or renew Trident?

• NHS using private providers?

• Top rate of tax?#andrewneilshow https://t.co/6CVoda3dIK pic.twitter.com/mULOhI6eNK — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) January 15, 2020

Neil also quizzed Nandy on her record on Brexit and said the candidate had “flirted with the May deal”. She responded that “there wasn’t a single thing about my position that changed during that time”.

Talking about the investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR), Nandy said that she would abide by whatever verdict it reached.

The contender to be the next Labour leader also declared that the “clamour out there in the country is not for more of the paternalism from Westminster and Whitehall… What people really want is power”.

Asked what she had done in her career to qualify her to be leader, she said: “What I’ve done is I’ve built and I’ve empowered good teams of people in order to make change possible.”

Nandy was nominated by 31 Labour colleagues and has proceeded with four other candidates to the next stage of the process, in which she needs to secure the backing of CLPs and affiliated organisations.

The representative for Wigan has so far been nominated by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).