Budget 2025 Reaction

In response to the Budget, Rebecca Gowland, Executive Director of Patriotic Millionaires UK said: 

“Today the Chancellor had an opportunity to upgrade our economy by focusing tax rises on the very richest. It could have future-proofed our country against the blistering and destabilising impact of inequality. Instead she has prioritized freezing tax thresholds - just as the previous Government did -  to raise the revenue we need. 

It’s plain wrong that everyday taxpayers are being asked, once again, to pick up the biggest tab when we know the very richest are paying less and taking more. People here feel battered by the cost of living; our public services, local schools and hospitals, our police and law courts, as well as those running our small businesses have suffered from years of underinvestment. They all deserve to feel like those who can most afford it are the first to be asked to contribute more. In a country where the richest 40 families have the same wealth as the poorest half of people living here, it should be common sense. 

There are small positive changes - tiny changes that show the government can see the direction in which it should be going. An additional surcharge on homes worth over £2million is a beginning; as is the notion that incomes earned on investments should be taxed at a greater level. It is good news that loopholes that allowed non-UK residents to benefit from preferential rates of capital gains are now abolished, but this only taps into a small proportion of UK taxpayers who hold extreme wealth. What's lacking is an overarching vision for reforming our tax system to be one that is equitable and works for everyone, not just the super rich.

These reforms are a poor cousin to what we should have heard today. For this Budget to have been truly ambitious we needed a complete package of reforms on capital gains, to make sure wealth pays tax like work does. And we all deserve a wealth tax - millionaires included -  as the best way for us to deal with the shocking levels of inequality we endure. 

Tax policy should be grounded in comprehensive, systemic reform for our economy - we should not be taking this piecemeal approach, only to find that we have to do the exact same thing in the next Budget round. This Parliament still has time to deliver what we all want and what we all need. We must keep working to tax the super rich.”