Gary Lineker has joined more than 100 British-based billionaires in calling on Andy Burnham to tax their wealth, telling the new prime minister: “We can afford it.” For national business owners, the information behind the application is as important as the touch.
On Thursday, a group of more than 100 UK-based billionaires, including Lineker, screenwriter Richard Curtis, novelist Val McDermid and former City trader Gary Stevenson, signed a letter calling on Mr Burnham to pay tax on their wealth. It was organized by the campaign group Patriotic Millionaires UK.
“We want you to tax us. We can afford it,” said the letter. “We are not talking about higher taxes for those who wake up to work to get their salary every day, but we are talking about the very rich who earn from the money they have.”
The signatories describe themselves as a “patriotic group” that “loves this country and we want it to succeed”. Lineker added: “Paying your fair share is a fundamental British value, but many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and many want to.”
Numbers are where ambitious business owners should pay attention. Patriotic Millionaires UK has called on the government to impose a 2 per cent tax on wealth over £10m, which it says could raise £24bn a year. It also says that reforms to capital gains tax, including equalizing the rate and income tax, could raise a further £12bn.
That combination will be entirely accessible to founders and family business owners, many of whom are already navigating limited profits from company sales. Paying on assets rather than income also raises the perennial question of illegitimate wealth: private equity is not a bank balance you can dip into to pay off a tax bill.
The campaign draws on new academic work. Economists Gabriel Zucman and Ben Tippet estimate that a 2 per cent levy on households with assets over £100m would raise £10bn a year and affect less than 1,000 of the UK’s wealthiest households. This tax will “increase real income and reduce runaway inequality”, they said.
Mr Burnham has refused to scrap the wealth tax, telling Lineker earlier this month that his government could “ask for more”. In a separate interview he suggested there was “room” in the Labor manifesto for a “tax movement”.
The request comes amid a row over how the new prime minister will fund his cost-of-living blitz. Since taking office on Monday, Mr Burnham has set bus fares for most buses in England at £2 and promised £850m tax cuts on electricity bills. Darren Jones, a colleague of Sir Keir Starmer who lost his cabinet post this week, said the cut in energy bills was not funded. The government says it will be partly paid for by scrapping Sir Keir’s digital plan, although the estimated £600m a year in savings falls short of annual costs.
For the SME community, which is already wary of what Premier Burnham is saying, that funding gap is at the heart of the matter. The Conservative shadow chancellor, Sir Mel Stride, told BBC Breakfast: “And in a very difficult economic environment at the moment, in terms of debt, debt servicing costs, and so on, and a very fragile financial situation, you cannot be a government that goes out there and makes spending commitments without being able to explain exactly how those commitments are going to be funded.”
The signatories insist that the answer lies with the super-rich, not the high street. Julia Davies, a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said this period could “reduce the alarming levels of wealth inequality which is driving up the cost of living crisis, and raise much-needed funding for our public services”. The idea that wealth taxes can generate meaningful returns has gained traction. Whether that revenue helps small businesses or simply adjusts the compensation of the people who support them is a question that will be watched by the owners.
Full signatories
Alexander Alanine · Antonio Amaral · Susan Angoy · Cal Bailey · David Barker · Mike Barnes · Brian Basham · Sasha Bates · Gareth Bayliss · Robin Beal · Derek Bennett · Michael Berners-Lee · Andy Bilson · Jonathan Bloch · Nacim Bougheda · Andrew Bowles · Chris Brown · David Burall Timona · William Campbell Cossins · Richard Curtis (screenwriter and film director) · Julia Davies (investor, Patriotic Millionaires UK) · Juan Jose del Rio · Easter · Nicholas Einhorn · Nicola Elliott · Brian Eno (singer and producer) · David Farrell · Chris Frith · Dawn Gerhold · Edward Gildea · James Golding · Stephen Einhorn · Laurence Gosling · Richard Hagan · Vivien Hallebard · Dominic Hamon · David Hands · William Hartree · Carolyn Hayman · Tom Hearn · David Heffernan · Peter Hill · Graham Hobson · Becky Holmes · Patrick Hort · Diane Isenberg · Kristina Johansson · Patricia Johnstone · Susie Jolly · Jenny Keffernan · Colsayn Kagan · Sunsail Kagan · Ramana Kumar · Jean Latenser · Barry Lea · Nick Levey · Gary Lineker (broadcaster and England striker) · Bruce Lloyd · Harry Longman · Sam Lupton · Fred Macmillan · Louisa Mann · Doro Marden · Nick Marple · Sophie Marple · Madelyn Martinez · Samantha Mayaveram · Samantha Mayaveram · Val McGough McDermid · Timmave McDermid · Timmave Nottidge · Lesley Omara · Charlie Orton · Roy Phillips · Nick Powell · David Pugh · Nick Razey · David Richards · Andrew Richards · Mark Robinson · Sarah Rossi · Georgios Samaras · David Seaward · Mark Seow · Susan Seymour · Anika Sharma · Lawrence Shaw · Alan Sherwell · Paul Sherwood Gel Singanger · Adam-Guy Singh · Akshay Gun Singh-Watson · Alastair Singleton · Alan Smith · Nathan Spencer · Heather Stevens · Gary Stevenson (economist and former City trader) · John Stickley · Tim Stumpff · Peter Sundgren · Ben Tibbits · Rebecca Tinsley · Jennifer Tomkins · Willem van Hoorn · Willem van Hoorn · Matthew Vicker White · Edward Suuza Vicki Wilkinson
