A Disney heiress has called for a tax to be imposed on the “super rich”, accusing them of causing an “economical, ecological and human rights catastrophe”.
Abigail Disney is one of many signatories to a letter that was sent to the leaders of G20 nations in advance of the summit this week. She has previously stated she feels so guilty about being born wealthy that she can’t sleep.
The letter was signed by 300 people, including Richard Curtis the director of the film, US politician Bernie Sanders, and Labour MPs. It stated: “Decades-long tax cuts for the wealthy, based upon the false promise that wealth at the top will somehow benefit us, have contributed to an increase in extreme inequality.
Our political choices have allowed ultra-wealthy people to continue using tax shelters, and to enjoy preferential treatment, to the extent that they pay lower taxes than the average person in most countries around the world.
Ms Disney is a social activist with a net-worth of $110m. She has criticised the management of her family business by Bob Iger, claiming last month that money and power had hijacked Iger’s sensibilities.
She is the granddaughter and shareholder of Disney co-founder Roy O. Disney.
In an interview she gave to Rolling Stone, in July, she stated: “I woke one morning and realized that I was born lucky. It meant that I had more than anyone else.”
“I haven’t slept well ever since I realized that.”
The campaign group Patriotic Millionaires behind the letter aims to replicate the global minimal tax on companies coordinated by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 39 countries.
The letter states that “in 2021, G20 and other organizations worked together to ensure multinational corporations pay a minimum tax level.”
The G20 must agree collectively to increase taxes on the wealthiest individuals through a truly inclusive and ambitious collaboration with other countries to tax wealth, and to stop tax avoidance and competition by the richest people.
The letter doesn’t give details on how such a tax would work or who would qualify, but the group behind the campaign said that a tax of 1-2% on people with more than £10m would generate up to £22bn per year.
The UK is a G20 member, along with nations such as the US, France and Germany, China, India Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and China.
Four Labour MPs are listed on the document as signatories: Richard Burgon (pictured), Rebecca Long Bailey (pictured), Dan Carden (pictured) and Ian Byrne. This is despite the fact that the Labour Party has insisted it won’t implement a wealth-tax if they win the next elections.
Rachel Reeves is Labour’s shadow Chancellor. She said just a few days ago: “I am very much in favor of wealth creation and I would like to see it more in Britain.”
“I do not see how we can get more money to spend on public services by taxing ourselves. The shadow chancellor stated that the only way to get there is by growing.
“I don’t need a tax on wealth or anything else.” We do not plan to implement a wealth-tax. We have no plans to raise taxes beyond what we’ve already said. Taxation is not the path to prosperity for me. “I want to grow the economic.”
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