Gary Lineker leads British millionaires telling Burnham: ‘We want to pay more tax’

Gary Lineker has joined more than 100 British-based millionaires in calling on Andy Burnham to tax their wealth more, telling the new prime minister: “We can afford it”.

Mr Burnham has previously signalled his intention to overhaul the tax system in order to fund his policy ambitions as prime minister.

On Thursday, a group of over 100 UK-based millionaires, including Lineker, screenwriter Richard Curtis, novelist Val McDermid, and ex-City trader Gary Stevenson signed a letter urging Mr Burnham to tax their wealth.

The letter, organised by Patriotic Millionaires UK, says: “We want you to tax us. We can afford it. We’re not talking about higher taxes on those who get up and go to work for their income every day, but on the very richest whose income is derived from the wealth they hold.”

It tells the prime minister that millionaires are a “patriotic bunch” who “love this country and we want it to succeed”.

“As we embrace this new road – please consider taxing us properly as our contribution to it. We love this country. It’s time for a better Britain; it’s time for everyone here to feel Great Britain. It’s time to tax us, the super rich,” the letter says.

Mr Burnham has previously declined to rule out a wealth tax, telling ex-footballer Lineker earlier this month that his government may “ask for a little more”.

There are several ways the government could introduce a wealth tax. The most commonly proposed scheme is a 2 per cent levy on the assets of the richest people in the country, which experts say could raise billions every year.

Lineker said: “Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and most want to. To live up to our national values our new government must raise taxes on extreme levels of wealth for a fairer, better, more hopeful Britain.”

In an interview earlier this month, Mr Burnham also suggested there is “some room” in the Labour manifesto for “movement on tax”.

It comes days after a row broke out within the Labour Party about how Mr Burnham would fund his policy blitz aimed at tackling the cost of living. Since taking office on Monday, the new prime minister has announced that most bus fares in England will be capped at £2, and also promised an £850m tax cut on electricity bills.

Darren Jones, a key ally of former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer who lost his cabinet post on Monday when Mr Burnham took office, claimed the VAT cut was unfunded.

The government said the move will be funded in part by scrapping Sir Keir’s national digital ID scheme. However, the estimated savings of £600m a year over three years fall short of the annual cost to the Exchequer from the energy bills tax cut.

Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride accused the government of being unable to answer basic questions on the funding of their policy commitments.

He told BBC Breakfast: “And in the context of a very constrained economy at the moment, in terms of debt, debt servicing costs, and so on, and a very fragile fiscal situation, you cannot be a government that goes out there and makes lots of spending commitments without being able to explain exactly how those commitments are going to be funded.”

Patriotic Millionaires UK has called on the government to place a 2 per cent tax on wealth over £10m, which they say could raise £24bn a year for the country.

They also say reforms to capital gains tax, including equalising it with income tax, could raise a further £12bn.

Julia Davies, member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, added: “This is a fresh opportunity for our country. A chance for the prime minister to help rebalance power, reduce the shocking levels of wealth inequality which intensifies the cost of living crisis, and raise much-needed revenue for our public services, improving life for everyone.

“We millionaires are here to be taxed more and we urge our new PM to grab this opportunity with both hands and tax our wealth.”

Earlier this week, academics claimed a 2 per cent charge on households with more than £100m in assets would raise £10bn a year and affect less than 1,000 of the wealthiest households in the UK.

Economists Gabriel Zucman and Ben Tippet said the tax would “raise meaningful revenues and dampen runaway inequality”.

Signatories in full:

Alexander Alanine

Antonio Amaral

Susan Angoy

Cal Bailey

David Barker

Mike Barnes

Brian Basham

Sasha Bates

Gareth Bayliss

Robin Beal

Derek Bennett

Michael Berners-Lee

Andy Bilson

Jonathan Bloch

Nacim Bougheda

Andrew Bowles

Chris Brown

David Burall

Fiona Campbell

Mark Campbell

Tim Carey

William Carman

John Cossins

Richard Curtis

Julia Davies

Juan Jose del Rio

Nicholas Easter

Stephen Einhorn

Nicola Elliott

Brian Eno

David Farrell

Chris Frith

Dawn Gerhold

Edward Gildea

James Golding

Stephen Gosling CBE

Ian Gregg

Lauren Gupta

Richard Hagan

Vivien Hallebard

Dominic Hamon

David Hands

William Hartree

Carolyn Hayman

Tom Hearn

David Heffernan

Peter Hill

Graham Hobson

Becky Holmes

Patrick Hort

Diane Isenberg

Kristina Johansson

Patricia Johnstone

Susie Jolly

Jenny Kagan

Sunil Kapur

Hussayn Kassai

Colleen Keck

Stephen Kinsella

Ramana Kumar

Jean Latenser

Barry Lea

Nick Levey

Gary Lineker

Bruce Lloyd

Harry Longman

Sam Lupton

Fred Macmillan

Louisa Mann

Doro Marden

Nick Marple

Sophie Marple

Madelyn Martinez

Samantha Mayaveram

Val McDermid

Gemma McGough-Colin

Ben Medlock

Tim Nottidge

Lesley Omara

Charlie Orton

Roy Phillips

Nick Powell

David Pugh

Nick Razey

David Richards

Andrew Richards

Mark Robinson

Sarah Rossi

Georgios Samaras

David Seaward

Mark Seow

Susan Seymour

Anika Sharma

Lawrence Shaw

Alan Sherwell

Paul Sherwood

Akshay Singal

Adam Singer

Geetie Singh-Watson

Guy Singh-Watson

Alastair Singleton

Alan Smith

Nathan Spencer

Heather Stevens

Gary Stevenson

John Stickley

Tim Stumpff

Peter Sundgren

Ben Tibbits

Rebecca Tinsley

Jennifer Tomkins

Willem van Hoorn

Matthew Varnham

Edward Vickery

Suzanne Wise

Phil White

Leticia White

Vicki Wilkinson

Rodney Wright

Barnaby Wynter

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