More than 100 UK millionaires urge Andy Burnham to raise their taxes

A group of wealthy Britons is backing higher taxes on the rich, arguing that too much wealth and influence has been concentrated among too few people. More than 100 UK millionaires have publicly asked new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to raise taxes on the wealthy, in a move that adds pressure to a debate that has long divided British politics. According to Al Jazeera, the group calling itself Patriotic Millionaires says the current system has allowed wealth and power to become concentrated in too few hands for too long. Their intervention is notable not because it comes from critics of wealth, but because it comes from people who have benefited from the system they want changed. The appeal lands at a politically sensitive moment. Any move to increase taxes on higher earners, wealth, or capital would likely become a major test for Burnham’s government, especially if ministers are looking for ways to pay for public services, reduce inequality, or shore up the public finances. But the details of what, exactly, the group wants changed were not fully clear from the available feed information. Calls to “tax the rich” can cover a wide range of policies, from higher income tax rates to changes in capital gains, inheritance, property, or wealth taxation.