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Caroline Lucas has questioned why the notion of a wealth tax is such a ‘taboo’ in the UK, arguing that some of the richest people in Britain ‘do not pay their fair share’ into the system.
The Green Party MP appeared on BBC Question Time on Thursday evening, and presented her case during a fractious debate. After outlining her views, the audience greeted the proposals with a warm round of applause.
Lucas used a prompt from Labour’s David Lammy to launch into her case for a wealth tax. After listing some of the UK’s ‘decimated’ public services that need investment, Lammy asked her how they’d fund such sweeping changes.
She came prepared…
“The Green Party would not propose tax cuts when public services are decimated, when hospitals have huge waiting lists, when schools are crumbling, and when universities can’t cope and struggle to balance the books.”
“The Green Party would prioritise investment in public services, not cutting taxes. We can fund this by introducing a wealth tax. Why hasn’t the Labour Party supported this? Some of the richest people do not pay a proportionate amount of tax.”
“Why is the discussion of a wealth tax such a taboo? They have one in Switzerland, in Norway, and the sky hasn’t fallen. We need a discussion about where investment must come from – it can come from people who have and earn more”. | Caroline Lucas
Lucas also suggested that private investment could be utilised to prop-up public services, stating that Labour are missing an opportunity by failing to stand-by their £28 billion pledge to revolutionise the ‘green economy’.
You can watch Caroline Lucas make the case for a wealth tax here:
