Use wealth tax to tackle inequality and avoid austerity, Reeves urged

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been urged by a group of leading economists to use the autumn budget to prepare Britain for the introduction of a wealth tax to tackle "extreme" levels of inequality.

- Richard Partington

With the government under pressure to raise taxes, the group of economists, including the French expert on wealth inequality Thomas Piketty, said the UK could raise "tens of billions of pounds" while positioning itself as a progressive leader on the world stage.

In a letter shared with the Guardian, the experts warned that wealth in Britain – like many rich countries – had become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands in recent decades at the expense of the nation at large.

It comes as the chancellor faces pressure from senior Labour figures and trade unions to raise taxes on wealth to cover a multibillion-pound shortfall in the public finances. "Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can build a tax system fit for the 21st century – that promotes fairness, first-class public services and good living standards for everyone," the economists wrote. "We cannot allow extreme wealth inequality to deepen while millions of people are consigned to struggle for a basic quality of life. A progressive wealth tax is a critical step forward, and one that we urge the UK government to take."