Wealth taxation

That this House notes the recent publication of the Sunday Times Rich List showing that the combined wealth of the UK’s richest 350 individuals has risen to £784 billion; further notes that this means the UK’s richest 50 families now own more than the poorest 34 million Britons combined; recognises that the UK is a global outlier in the growth of billionaire wealth, which has risen from 4 per cent to 22 per cent of GDP since 1990, compared with an increase from 2.5 per cent to 14.1 per cent globally; expresses concern at this extreme concentration of wealth and assets; acknowledges the moral case for addressing this inequality when many are facing extreme pressure on living standards; further recognises the significant harm that wealth extraction has in terms of limiting economic productivity; rejects the notion that fair taxation is incompatible with a healthy economy; further notes that relatively few of the top 20 richest individuals are among the UK’s largest taxpayers and that a significant proportion inherited their wealth; and calls on the Government to take steps at the next Budget to tax wealth fairly, by aligning rates of Capital Gains Tax with income tax, applying National Insurance to investment income, and introducing a wealth tax on billionaires and multimillionaires.