“We must demand that the super-rich pay their fair share. That is how we can help rebuild our public services, tackle poverty, and create a more equal society – the kind of change people are crying out for.”
Richard Burgon MP
By Richard Burgon MP
At Donald Trump’s inauguration, he was flanked by four of the world’s five richest men. Just like with Reform here, Trump’s so-called populism is really about serving the rich and powerful while driving back the living standards of ordinary people and scapegoating the most vulnerable.
Our movement must stand for the exact opposite: we must demand that the super-rich pay their fair share. That is how we can help rebuild our public services, tackle poverty, and create a more equal society – the kind of change people are crying out for.
The billionaires have never had it so good. According to a new report by Oxfam, the world’s five richest men have doubled their wealth since 2020, while nearly five billion people have lost out.
And it’s getting worse: billionaire wealth globally rose three times faster in 2024 than it did in 2023. In Britain alone, billionaires’ wealth increased by £35 million every single day in 2024.
Just a few days after Oxfam released its new report on billionaire wealth, new data revealed that nearly one in five people in the UK are living in poverty—that’s over 14 million people, including over 4 million children.
The gap between the super-rich and the rest of us has never been wider. But inequality on this scale isn’t an accident. It’s the exact outcome that our rigged economic model is designed to deliver—and it’s the result of political choices.
We need to win the battle of ideas so that different decisions are made. We need to take back real control, which means stopping those with extreme wealth from dominating our economy and democracy for their own benefit.
Our economy has long been defined by low growth, and that reality is unlikely to change and so redistributing the wealth there is in our society becomes ever more important. But even if growth were to improve, we would still need policies to ensure that its benefits are not hoarded by the privileged few.
That’s why I am campaigning for a wealth tax on the super-rich. This could help us redistribute the wealth in our society, dismantle the grotesque inequality that defines our current system and improve ordinary people’s living standards.
I recently delivered a petition in Parliament, backed by 50,000 people, calling for a wealth tax, and have now launched a campaign to take this call further.
A wealth tax on the super-rich is not just a moral imperative; it’s a practical solution to some of the biggest challenges we face.
The numbers speak for themselves. A modest wealth tax of just 2% on assets worth over £10 million could raise £24 billion a year. Such a wealth tax would affect only around 20,000 people.
The UK is crying out for investment in our NHS, schools, our energy and transport infrastructure and in building social housing. A wealth tax could raise vital funds for all that.
It would be popular, too. Recent polling shows that measures to take on the super-rich are what the public wants. In fact, two in three voters want a government that stands up for ordinary people against wealthy and financial elites.
We have a simple choice. We on the progressive side of politics can lead that charge for a real alternative to our rigged economic model. If not, the space will be filled by far-right populists who will claim that migrants, disabled people on benefits and other vulnerable people are to blame for all of society’s problems. They will let the rich and powerful off the hook.
Of course, the billionaires and their advocates in the right-wing press will claim that a wealth tax would harm the economy.
But let’s be clear: these are the same people who have spent years dodging taxes, stashing their money in offshore accounts, and lobbying governments to cut taxes for the rich. It’s them doing damage to our economy.
Those are the kinds of policies that have truly harmed our society and driven back living standards by causing a lack of investment in public services and infrastructure. A wealth tax is a way to fix that.
The super-rich opponents of wealth taxes are also the ones who, through their lavish lifestyles, super yachts, private jets, and investments in polluting industries, are fuelling the climate crisis.
The super-rich have had it too good for too long, while millions suffer. But without real action, wealth will become even more concentrated in the hands of a small elite, who will buy up more houses, take over more social care homes and get their hands on more of our public services, leaving ordinary people struggling to afford the basics.
It’s only fair that those who have done very well out of our rigged economy should be the ones who foot the bill to fix it, for the good of people and the planet.
So let’s build a movement for tax justice that can’t be ignored. One that puts forward a bold, progressive vision for a better society. Together we can ensure that our government and governments worldwide properly tax the super-rich as a key step in building a better future for all.
- You can sign up for Richard Burgon MP’s Wealth Tax Campaign here.
- Richard Burgon is the MP for Leeds East and the Secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky.
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