Starmer and Reeves should prepare UK for wealth tax, say top economists

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves can build a tax system ‘fit for the 21st century’, the economists’ letter said. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

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

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