Re Polly Toynbee’s article (George Osborne is a walking ad for a wealth tax. Labour should target the inheritocracy, 3 December), of course a tax on wealth as well as on income has been needed for a long time. But how about this for a quick fix? The top 350 richest people in the UK have a combined wealth of £795bn. A tax of just 5% would bring in around £40bn, the amount referred to in Rachel Reeves’s budget. It could be called a “renewal UK contribution”.
This cohort of 350 wealthy people is 0.0005% of the population. After that, the government might consider making the top richest 1% regular contributors, as per various trade union proposals.
W Gwyn Thomas
London
