Millionaires urge Burnham to raise taxes on wealth

Gary Lineker, Brian Eno and other wealthy Britons have urged new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to raise taxes on the richest people in the UK, saying they can afford to pay more to help fund investment and reduce inequality.

In an open letter released Thursday, 120 signatories calling themselves Patriotic Millionaires told Burnham: “As millionaires we have a clear message for you, our new Prime Minister: tax us. We are proud to pay and here to stay.”

The group said it was not seeking higher taxes on wages for ordinary workers, but on wealth held by the very richest. “We can afford it,” the letter said. “We’re not talking about higher taxes on those who get up and go to work for their income every day, but on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold.”

The letter argued that “wealth and power has been concentrated in a small group for too long,” harming “our country, its people, our democracy and our environment.” It called for a “devolution of wealth and power from the very richest” so the country could reinvest in people and communities.

Patriotic Millionaires supports a 2% tax on wealth above £10m. According to the group, such a tax could raise £24bn a year for the UK, while reforms to capital gains tax could raise a further £12bn. Al Jazeera reported that a separate recent report by Gabriel Zucman of the Paris School of Economics and Ben Tippet of King’s College London found that a 2% minimum annual tax on people with more than £100m in assets could raise about £10bn a year.

Lineker, the former England footballer and sports broadcaster, said the richest people in Britain should contribute more while many others struggle with daily costs. “Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford,” he said. “Our richest people can do more and most want to.”

Other signatories include music producer Brian Eno, film writer Richard Curtis, actress Julia Davies, Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, former Greggs managing director Ian Gregg and former financial trader turned equality campaigner Gary Stevenson.

Eno told BBC Radio Lincolnshire the tax system was “very generous to rich people.” He said wealthy people can “hire a clever bunch of accountants who somehow get you off that,” and rejected the argument that many millionaires would leave the UK if taxes rose. “That is the story that has always been told by the rich to avoid this but in fact people don’t leave that much,” he said.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds welcomed the millionaires’ willingness to pay more but did not commit to a policy change. “It is day four of this new government, and obviously any major tax changes would be announced at a budget,” she told Sky News. She added: “I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more.”

The BBC reported that people can already donate money or stocks voluntarily to the Treasury. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Lineker was “very welcome to pay more tax” and could “write a cheque to the Treasury, no one is stopping him.”

Burnham has not ruled out a wealth tax. Asked by Lineker before becoming prime minister, he suggested he may have “to ask for a little more” tax at some point. In a podcast interview Wednesday, Burnham said he believed Britain needed “a greater sense of fairness and people feeling that things are being done in the right way and a fair way.”