A group of British multimillionaires have projected a message on to the Treasury building and the Bank of England in advance of Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement on Wednesday, saying: “Tax our wealth”.
Patriotic Millionaires UK, a collection of British-based members of the super-rich, said that instead of considering tax cuts the chancellor should increase taxes on the richest in society to help fund public services for all.
“We’re not about to give up on this country. We need a wealth tax now,” another message projected in 1.8-metre (6ft) high letters read. “We want it. For a better Britain.”
A 2% tax on those with more than £10m of assets could raise £22bn a year, or more than £420m a week, they claimed. “That could pay for the average salary cost of more than 600,000 nurses a year – more than three-quarters of the UK’s nursing workforce,” the group said.
Phil White, a former business consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “The whole country knows that we need a serious injection of capital to get us back on track. We have a potential £423m a week, which is currently absent from national investment revenue, because we don’t tax extreme wealth. Surely the people in the UK deserve more? For a better Britain our government should prioritise taxing those of us who can most afford it.”
Asked about suggestions that the chancellor is considering cutting inheritance tax, which would mostly benefit those with more than £1m at their death, White said: “To prioritise cutting taxes, especially for the very richest, is dismal decision-making from this chancellor on tax reform. Instead we can increase investment in Britain and take the pressure off working people by taxing the super-rich.”
A YouGov survey found that three-quarters of Britons support a wealth tax. Research by Patriotic Millionaires of those with investable assets of £1m found that 68% of the richest people in the country supported the introduction of wealth taxes.