Rich List shows extremely wealthy must be taxed properly
The Sunday Times Rich List shows that the extremely wealthy must be fairly taxed to save our public services, say the Scottish Greens.
The call comes from the party's finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP, as the Sunday Times list put the combined wealth of the richest 350 people – including King Charles – at £772.8 billion.
According to research from the Tax Justice Network, a 1% annual wealth tax on net assets over £10 million could raise almost £10 billion a year while only impacting the richest 0.4% of the population.
Mr Greer said:
“Over the last year Labour have used claims about the lack of money to justify cuts to pensioners’ Winter Fuel Payments and essential support for disabled people. At the same time, they are refusing to act while bills for everything from food to fuel skyrocket.
“This Rich List shows this claim of a lack of money for what it is, a lie designed to protect the extremely wealthy from paying their fair share. The UK is one of the richest countries in the history of the world, but Westminster governments allow that wealth to be concentrated in the hands of a handful of elites instead of serving the public good.
“This is wealth they couldn’t spend in a hundred lifetimes, but which we could use to fund our hospitals, schools and the services needed to end the scandal of child poverty. Instead, it’s spent on yachts, private jets and buying up land which should belong to communities.
“In Scotland, Green MSPs have already delivered the most progressive income tax system in the UK, asking those who can afford it to pay a little more and delivering an extra £1.7 billion a year for the essential services we all rely on.
“But the most important tax powers, which could be used to fairly redistribute the wealth of the super-rich, are still held at Westminster. And Labour have shown that they’d prefer to take food from the mouths of children and heating from the homes of the elderly than touch the assets of their billionaire friends and donors.
“Future generations will look back at this absurd concentration of wealth and the displays of excess and greed that come with it, and ask why it was allowed to get so out of control. There’s no better time than now to start reversing course. That begins by taxing wealth fairly and using the money to build a fairer, greener society.”