Labour’s class warfare is back on the agenda, and the consequences will damage all wealth.
It’s easy to attack rich people, and the idea of taxing millionaires sounds appealing. But the truth is we need these rich individuals to stay in the UK.
They don’t just sit on piles of money—they invest in businesses, create jobs, and drive economic growth. When they leave, it’s not only their tax revenue that goes with them, it’s the jobs, the innovation, and the investment, and they will leave if we make it harder for them to stay.
We’ve already had a taste of what is to come if we carry on down this path - recent analysis shows that the share of millionaires in the UK is set to fall by 20 per cent over the next five years.
Jacob Rees-Mogg hit out at Labour's proposed tax raids
GB NEWS
Countries like Germany and France are set to gain millionaires, while Britain is losing them.
And why? Because our tax system is becoming increasingly hostile to wealth creators. People are preparing to pack their bags, and they’re not just worried about income tax or inheritance tax—it’s the non-refundable VAT, it’s the proposed exit taxes.
Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir StarmerPARich people don’t need to stay here, and they are mobile and will leave if taxes are too high.
They can live anywhere they please, and many are already leaving for fear of what will be in the budget.
While I was in government I argued for a return to the non-dom rules as they were when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, before all the changes began to frighten them away.
Tax, after all, is about practicality, not morality. It’s not about punishing people for being successful—it’s about making sure that the system works for everyone.
If these non-dom policies push more people to leave, we’ll have less money in the economy, which means less money for public services, and the least well off suffer the most. This is what socialist, class war economics leads to.
Already the very rich already pay a disproportionate share of tax. The top one per cent of earners contribute nearly 30 per cent of all income tax. Remember in 1979 when the top tax rate was 98 per cent they paid six per cent of all tax.
Their departure isn’t just a minor inconvenience—it’s a massive hit to the Exchequer. Some economists are already calling for an exit tax, which is encouraging people to pack their bags already.
But forcing people to pay capital gains tax on unrealised assets as they leave isn’t going to make them stay. It’s only going to drive more of them out the door.L
This isn’t just about numbers on a spreadsheet. This is about the future of the British economy. We need to be attracting the best and brightest talent from around the world—not driving them away.
The government needs to rethink this policy before it’s too late. Because once they’re gone, they’re gone. And we’ll be left with a weaker economy and less money for the very public services we’re trying to protect, and the poorest in our country will become poorer still.
