A group of 120 millionaires in the United Kingdom have asked the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to increase taxes on the ultra-wealthy, according to Al Jazeera. In a “Proud to Pay” letter released on Thursday, the millionaires, including sports broadcaster Gary Lineker and actress Julia Davies, told Burnham: “As millionaires we have a clear message for you, our new Prime Minister: tax us. We are proud to pay and here to stay.”

Call for Fairer Society

Calling themselves “Patriotic Millionaires”, the group said “wealth and power has been concentrated in a small group for too long”, hurting “our country, its people, our democracy and our environment.” For a better Britain, this has to change, they added. The money raised from higher taxes on wealth could be used to reduce inequality, support public infrastructure and back small businesses.

Lineker on Fair Share

Lineker, a former professional footballer, said Britain’s wealthiest can afford to chip in more, as Brits struggle to get by every day. “Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford,” said Lineker. “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,” he said in the statement.

Asked about the letter, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds on Thursday said she welcomed the initiative, but gave no indication whether the government would consider a policy change. “Well, look, it is day four of this new government, and obviously any major tax changes would be announced at a budget,” Reynolds told Sky News. “I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more,” she said. “There is a link on gov.uk, but look, we have to look at tax policy in the round, and we only make major tax announcements at budgets.”

Proposed Tax Reforms

Burnham, who has sought to address Britain’s rising cost of living, has said his administration may “ask for a little bit more” in taxes and suggested this could include a wealth tax. “I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness and people feeling that things are being done in the right way and a fair way,” Burnham said during a podcast interview on Wednesday.

Putting in place a 2 percent minimum annual tax on the Britain’s super wealthy – those with more than 100 million pounds ($133.3m) in assets – could raise about 10 billion pounds ($13.3bn) a year, according to a recent report by Gabriel Zucman, economics professor at the Paris School of Economics, and Ben Tippet, lecturer in economics and wealth inequality at King’s College London. The report recommended such a tax, saying it would “raise meaningful revenues and dampen runaway inequality.”

According to Patriotic Millionaires, a 2 percent tax on wealth above 10 million pounds ($13.3m) could raise 24 billion pounds ($32bn) a year for the UK, while reforms to capital gains tax could raise a further 12 billion pounds ($16bn).

Millionaires including former footballer Gary Lineker and music producer Brian Eno have written to new prime minister Andy Burnham asking to be taxed more. In an open letter, 120 well-off Britons told Burnham: “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.”

Organised by Patriotic Millionaires, the letter said it would lead to a more equal society, and urged a “devolution of wealth and power from the very richest.” People can already give money or stocks voluntarily to the Treasury using a donation facility.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Lineker is “very welcome to pay more tax he can write a cheque to the Treasury, no one is stopping him.” Patriotic Millionaires support a 2% tax on wealth over £10m. “Millionaires are a patriotic bunch,” the letter states. “We love this country and we want it to succeed. But success requires investment and a primary source of untouched capital investment is sitting with us, in untaxed potential.”

Other signatories include Richard Curtis, who wrote the film Notting Hill, and Ian Gregg, the former managing director of Greggs and son of the bakery chain’s founder. Scottish crime writer Val McDermid and former financial trader-turned-equality campaigner Gary Stevenson also signed the letter.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said she would welcome UK millionaires increasing the amount of tax they pay but said any major changes would be announced during a Budget. “I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more,” she said and pointed to the Treasury’s donation link. The renewed call for higher tax on the wealthy follows a similar campaign in previous years.

Burnham did not rule out a wealth tax when asked about it by Lineker – formerly the BBC’s highest paid presenter – a few days before he became prime minister. He suggested he may have “to ask for a little more” tax at some point. Lineker was paid around £1.3m a year before he left the BBC. He is worth a reported £30m.

In 2023, Lineker won his appeal against HMRC over a £4.9m tax bill, after the UK tax authority pursued him over taxes on income from both the BBC and BT Sport, from 2013 to 2014, and 2017 to 2018. The latest call from Patriotic Millionaires said there is a “need to embrace a new kind of devolution of wealth and power, from the very richest in order to reinvest back into our greatest asset in every region.” It added that in its own poll, the majority of millionaires wanted a higher tax on themselves.