James May has become an outspoken critic of Britain’s super-rich, breaking with 120 UK billionaires, Gary Lineker among them, who have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to raise taxes on wealth like theirs.
The former Top Gear presenter told LBC that he “already pays a lot of tax” and that anyone who wants to give more can do so. It’s an argument that has real stakes in small companies, because the billionaires who support it are projecting their wealth as a means of financing those things that SMEs say they lack.
In its book “Proud to Pay”, Patriotic Millionaires UK says a 2 per cent tax on wealth over £10 million could raise £24 billion a year, with changes to capital gains tax raising a further £12 billion. The signatories said the money could go “to support entrepreneurs with the skills and infrastructure they need, and give small businesses access to affordable financing.”
That bottom line is what owner-managers will notice. Access to affordable capital has been lacking for growing firms for years, and Lineker’s broader campaign clearly prioritizes passive wealth as a way to fund it.
May is not convinced. Asked on LBC if he agreed with the letter, he said “No.” Pressed by presenter Tom Swarbrick, he replied: “I already pay a lot of tax.
He continued: “And those people who say, I’d happily pay another 2 percent tax if it goes to the homeless or veterans or disabled or whatever. There are a lot of people who will take that extra percent from you if you’re willing to give it.”
He also pointed out that rich people are already burdened: “rich people are already paying more taxes.”
On a technical point, May is right that the door is open. The Department of Finance and the Debt Management Office’s Donations and Assets Account are in place so that public-spirited citizens can give money to the government, although the account has only taken £2,000 in recent years.
Lineker labeled this question as patriotic. “Paying your fair share is a fundamental British value, but many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford,” he said, adding that the government “must raise taxes on the extreme wealth to achieve a fairer, better, more hopeful Britain.”
The government is keeping its options open. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds welcomed the offer but failed to commit: “I accept that well-off people say they want to pay more. They can pay more. There’s a link on gov.uk.” Any major tax changes, he said, “will be announced in the budget.”
In business, the sharpest counter came from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who warned against sacking job creators. “We see people who create job opportunities leaving the country,” he said. “If we continue to tax people who create job opportunities, who increase job opportunities, we will have no tax at all.”
That concern is not unique to the SME ecosystem. Founders and investors have already lobbied the Treasury over capital gains tax, warning that higher rates could dampen the incentive to build and restore British companies.
So the owner-managers are left watching the conflict between two camps of the wealthy: one offering to subsidize small firms who keep asking for it, the other warning that the bill will eventually fall to growth-promoting businesses. Like so much else this year, the answer awaits the budget.
