UK millionaires are pressing Andy Burnham to consider a wealth tax, with Gary Lineker, Brian Eno and dozens of other wealthy Britons signing an open letter that says the richest people should contribute more. The appeal, backed by the campaign group Patriotic Millionaires, argues that the burden should not fall on people who earn wages from regular work, but on those whose income comes from large stores of wealth.
The letter was signed by 120 well-off Britons, who said they could afford to pay more and that doing so would help create a fairer society. The group is calling for what it describes as a transfer of wealth and power away from the very richest and back into public investment. Patriotic Millionaires has said it supports a two percent tax on wealth above £10 million.
Among the signatories are Lineker, the former footballer and one-time BBC presenter, and Eno, the music producer, who has publicly argued that the tax system is already very favorable to rich people. Other names on the letter include Richard Curtis, the writer of Notting Hill; Ian Gregg, the former managing director of Greggs and son of the company’s founder; Scottish crime writer Val McDermid; and former trader and equality campaigner Gary Stevenson.
The latest push is not happening in a vacuum. The group says a majority of millionaires in its own polling favor a higher tax on themselves, and it has renewed a campaign that has appeared in previous years. The letter says Britain needs a new form of devolution of wealth and power so money can be reinvested in every region. In the group’s view, some critics are stuck in old economic thinking, while others are simply trying to protect their own wealth.
Burnham did not dismiss the idea when asked about it by Lineker a few days before he became prime minister. He suggested he may eventually have to ask for a little more tax. That comment has given fresh fuel to a debate that has long divided politicians, economists and donors over how far the state should go in asking the wealthy to pay more.
