Gary Lineker has joined more than 100 British-based millionaires in calling on Andy Burnham to tax their wealth more, telling the new prime minister: “We can afford it.” For the country’s business owners, the detail behind the plea matters as much as the gesture.
On Thursday, a group of over 100 UK-based millionaires, including Lineker, screenwriter Richard Curtis, novelist Val McDermid and ex-City trader Gary Stevenson, signed a letter urging Mr Burnham to tax their wealth. It was organised by campaign group Patriotic Millionaires UK.
“We want you to tax us. We can afford it,” the letter says. “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 signatories describe themselves as a “patriotic bunch” who “love this country and we want it to succeed”. Lineker added: “Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and most want to. To live up to our national values our new government must raise taxes on extreme levels of wealth for a fairer, better, more hopeful Britain.”
The numbers are where owners of ambitious firms should pay attention. Patriotic Millionaires UK has called on the government to place a 2 per cent tax on wealth over £10m, which it says could raise £24bn a year. It also argues that reforms to capital gains tax, including equalising the rate with income tax, could raise a further £12bn.
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