Britain’s rich are living in a golden era. Labour should not be scared to end it

‘While promising to scrap the tax privileges of wealthy non-doms and the exemption of private school fees from VAT, a Starmer government will otherwise leave economic elites alone.’ Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

For millions of Britons, this feels more and more like a poor country. Essentials such as heating and regular meals are increasingly unaffordable. Public services are struggling, and avoided by many of those who can afford to. Old infrastructure such as schools and hospitals is visibly crumbling. Even “middle-income Brits”, the Resolution Foundation reported this week, “are now 20% poorer than their peers in Germany”.

Yet for a substantial minority of other Britons, life is ever more luxurious. “The big story of the last 40 years has been of private wealth racing ahead,” says the thinktank, “rising from around three times to more than seven times [the size] of GDP.” This long boom for the rich is ever more visible: in the property prices of elite postcodes; in the proliferation of supercars and SUVs; and in the growing parts of cities and smart towns and villages given over to fine dining or designer boutiques.