Brian Eno, Gary Lineker and Richard Curtis are among a number of millionaires based in the UK, who are asking Prime Minister Andy Burnham to tax them more.
There are 120 millionaires who came together to sign an open letter addressed to the new PM and leader of the Labour Party, following him stepping into 10 Downing Street at the start of the week following Keir Starmer’s resignation.
The request is led by Patriotic Millionaires, and sees signees tell the politician: “We can afford it. 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.”
In the letter, they said that “millionaires are a patriotic bunch” who “love this country and we want it to succeed”.
“But success requires investment and a primary source of untouched capital investment is sitting with us, in untaxed potential,” it read, also adding that the move would lead to a more balanced and equal society.
Signees include presenter and former footballer Gary Lineker, film director Richard Curtis, musician Brian Eno, and journalist Sasha Bates.
Other names added to the list include former chairman of Greggs, Ian Gregg, as well as economist Gary Stevenson, Mike Barnes (CE of Signet Jewellers Ltd), TV director Robert Beal, former footballer Georgios Samaras, and authors Val McDermid and Michael Berners-Lee.
“There are a few people left with outdated economic thinking and few others desperate to hold onto every penny they can,” the letter read. “Those that can’t see past the end of their own self interest have no place in designing a Britain for the future.”
It also said that there is a dire need to “embrace a new kind of devolution of wealth and power, from the very richest in order to reinvest back into our greatest asset in every region”.
“Our fantastic country deserves all of us to get behind it. I’m proud to stand with people across the UK who want to live in a more equal society,” said former England striker Lineker. “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 group supports a two per cent tax on those with wealth surpassing £10million, and similar campaigns have been launched in previous years encouraging politicians to increase taxes for well-off Britons (via BBC News).
People in the UK can already give money or stocks to the Treasury voluntarily via the donation platform it has in place. The new PM has not ruled out a wealth tax, and said recently that he may have “to ask for a little more” tax at some point during his tenure.
Burnham has already laid out multiple policy changes since stepping into 10 Downing Street on Monday (July 20), including cutting VAT from household electricity bills from October, and introducing a £2 cap on bus journeys across England – but outside of London – from January 2027.
Earlier this morning (July 23) he confirmed that music venues, clubs and pubs in England will get a 20 per cent cut in business rates next year, and the costs will be funded by a review of the tax reliefs given to companies “such as vape shops”.
Last week, the government also revealed a new ‘Music Plan’, designed to bolster their growth package by £15million to a total of £45million.
MPs said that it would benefit over 40,000 artists and businesses, 2,000 projects and millions of children over three years – hopefully enabling more people from working class backgrounds to enter the world of music.
Burnham – whose love of music is well-known – has been vocal in his backing of the call for a £1 ticket levy to be introduced on gigs at arena level too, helping support rising artists and grassroots spaces.
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