Richard Burgon

With the chancellor Jeremy Hunt set to deliver the budget tomorrow, campaign groups and opposition MPs have been issuing calls for changes in government policy. Among those to do so is Leeds East’s Labour MP Richard Burgon, who is today presenting a petition to parliament calling for the introduction of a wealth tax in order to fund pay rises for public sector workers.

The petition calls for the scrapping of a key tax advantage that means income from wealth is taxed at lower rates than income from work. Specifically, it calls for the equalising of Capital Gains Tax rates with income tax rates. This would raise £17 billion, more than enough to fund inflation-matching pay rises for every public selector worker, which Burgon claims would cost around £12 billion.

Over 38,000 people have signed the petition at the time of writing.

Richard Burgon MP said: “It is totally wrong that the richest get away with paying lower tax rates on their wealth than everybody else has to pay on the wages they earn from going out to work day in, day out.

“Scrapping this tax advantage could easily fund a proper pay rise for nurses, teachers, and the other key workers that the Government was calling heroes not long ago.

“The Tories need to put an end to this unfair system and use the Budget to tax wealth fairly and give workers a proper pay rise”.

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Image credit: Rwendland – Creative Commons