Richest of us also want a fairer system of taxation
EARLIER this week I met with the self-titled Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy people who believe that they should be paying more tax than the British Government is asking them to.
It is a simple concept really – these millionaires have either inherited a huge amount of wealth or have been incredibly lucky in business and now believe it is their duty to make a greater financial contribution to society.
I listened as the speakers described the advantages and privileges they experienced in their lives and spoke passionately for a fairer tax system to redistribute wealth more progressively.
The issue of income inequality is at the forefront of many people’s minds right now as the UK battles a cost-of-living crisis brought about by the perfect storm of Brexit, a pandemic and more than a decade of fiscal austerity.
According to the OECD, the UK has one of the worst levels of income inequality in the developed world.
We rank worse than Germany, France and even Russia while small independent countries such as Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Slovenia are among those with the lowest pay gaps.
Among other developed countries, the UK sticks out like a sore thumb for being a low wage, high inequality economy. We must do better.
On Saturday I joined the RMT union picket line at Glasgow Central to offer solidarity and support and talk to striking rail workers.
There is a very legitimate sense of injustice among them about how they have been treated and of the disparity between their wages and those of the rail bosses.
The two highest-paid directors in Network Rail took home around £1m between them last year.
It has also been reported that some rail bosses are earning up to £650,000 every year.
The Tory transport secretary, Grant Shapps, glibly praised rail staff for their efforts as key workers throughout the pandemic yet now chooses to attack them in the media rather than engage with unions to find a solution.
So too has the chancellor been responsible for enabling a culture of income inequality – of allowing the super-wealthy to get richer while ordinary workers get poorer.
HMRC payroll data shows that the pay of the top 1% is rising three-and-a-half times faster than the pay of those in the bottom 10%.
Rishi Sunak is the richest Chancellor of the Exchequer in history; so incredibly welloff that he and his wife have just entered the Sunday Times Rich List.
Are we really surprised that this obscenely wealthy man, who is solely responsible for public spending and taxation, is looking after himself and his friends while everyone else suffers the largest drop in living standards in generations?
Sunak has carefully cultivated a personal brand, no doubt in preparation for a future attempt to become Prime Minister.
He has sought to capitalise on his role as administrator of the furlough scheme to position himself as the saviour of normal, everyday workers.
In April this year that pretence was shattered when news broke that the chancellor’s wife had claimed “nondom” status, a move believed to have deprived the public purse of up to £20m in taxes.
The chancellor certainly isn’t a Patriotic Millionaire.
Inflation is running at 9% and predicted to go higher, yet the chancellor is imposing the highest tax burden on ordinary people in living memory.
Those on low and middle incomes are feeling the squeeze most acutely while the mega-wealthy continue to grow their fortunes with ease.
When Sunak says that the coming months will be “tough” for families – he is not talking about his family.
He will not struggle to afford his weekly food shop. He will not struggle with the rising cost of his energy bills. He will not worry about how he will make ends meet.
The Patriotic Millionaires are vocal in their belief that the solution to dealing with crises both present and future is to adequately tax the wealthy.
They say that they would be proud to contribute more in order to reduce inequality, improve social care services and support the poorest in our communities.
But Sunak and the British Government continue to raise taxes for working families, leaving the cost of the recovery to fall on the young or those with lower incomes.
The Patriotic Millionaires support a more progressive and fair system of taxation as a means of creating a more just society and to address the cost-of-living crisis. So do I.
But I’m not holding my breath waiting for the British Government to do the right thing and nor do I believe that Sunak will bring about policy that will force him to part with any of his huge personal wealth.
For so long as we are subjected to Tory governments that we didn’t vote for, Scotland won’t be able to meaningfully change course.
I want to live in a country where multi-millionaires with a social conscience don’t have to beg to be taxed more and I’m willing to bet that whatever your constitutional views are, you do to.