Imposing a 1% levy on the super-rich isn’t a policy, it’s pantomime. Tackling inequality in Britain will require much more far-reaching changes, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

Saw someone the other day saying Labour is the only party that will acknowledge that trade offs exist, but also that they keep picking the side of the trade off guaranteed to annoy their voters, which seemed like a pithy summary of politics.

  • flamingos-cant (hopepunk arc)@feddit.ukMEnglish
    14·
    16 hours ago

    If the Greens are serious about redistributing unearned wealth, they should widen their focus from Mr and Mrs Megabucks to well-to-do families across the country who, just by dint of being sufficiently old and/or lucky are sitting in houses that have rocketed in value since the late 90s.

    While I do think more needs to be done about the ridiculous state of asset inflation, and the class of people who support it, this really undersells just how ludicrously wealthy the rich have become. From Equal Trust:

    Billionaire wealth has grown explosively since 1990, with an over 1000% increase in just 31 years. This has occurred alongside an increasing inequality in the UK’s overall wealth distribution. By 2023, the top 50 richest families in the UK held more wealth than the poorest half of the population, comprising over 34 million people; in 2025, the £468bn held by the richest 50 continues to exceed the £466bn held by the poorest half of the population.

    • frankPodmore@slrpnk.netOPMEnglish
      2·
      13 hours ago

      This is all true! The thing is, you’d collect far more from the billionaires by introducing broad-based progressive income tax rises. The idea we can design a wealth tax that does a better job than such an income tax is a myth.