Robbed blind: How the super-rich are rigging the system while the rest of us pay the price!

Anger as new report exposes how wealth inequality is poisoning Britain with the richest 1% paying less tax than ordinary workers while public services crumble—but a better outcome is possible

Britain’s tax system is rotten to the core—and it’s letting the super-rich get away with daylight robbery. That’s the sobering message from a new report from the Fairness Foundation that warns that the nation’s approach to taxing wealth is fuelling social division, crippling economic growth, and hollowing out democracy itself.

Compounding privilege

The findings paint a shocking picture of a country where privilege is rewarded, wealth is hoarded, and ordinary working families are left to pick up the pieces. The UK’s wealthiest are sitting on eye-watering fortunes yet pay a pitiful average tax rate of just 4%, compared with 33% for those who earn their living through work. The result? A yawning gulf between rich and poor that’s growing by the day—and threatening to tear Britain apart.

According to the report, wealth inequality doesn’t just offend basic fairness—it actively undermines the economy. When so much money is concentrated in so few hands, the rich use it to extract even more wealth rather than create anything of real value. Instead of investing in jobs or innovation, they pour it into rent-seeking, speculation, and financial trickery that distort the market and stifle opportunity. Ordinary people’s wages stagnate, demand weakens, and social mobility collapses.

Meanwhile, public wealth—from our infrastructure to our essential services—has plummeted. As private fortunes soar, schools, hospitals, and local councils are left begging for scraps. The report warns that decades of lopsided tax policies have gutted the public realm, leaving communities to crumble while oligarchs and property magnates cash in.

Going in the wrong direction

Even more alarming, the problem is getting worse. Soaring house prices, massive inheritances, and a coming wave of AI-driven profits are set to concentrate wealth even further in the hands of those who already have it. Unless urgent action is taken, Britain could soon resemble a “dynastic economy” where opportunity depends on birthright, not effort—and where democracy itself is at risk as power pools around the super-rich.

The report lays out a series of clear, achievable reforms that could help turn the tide. Chief among them is aligning capital gains tax with income tax—a move that would raise an estimated £11 billion a year and stop wealthy investors from paying less tax than nurses and teachers. Other proposals include extending National Insurance to cover income from property and partnerships, and replacing the outdated council tax with a fairer, proportional property tax.

For those who say these measures don’t go far enough, the authors also make the case for a full-blown wealth tax—either a one-off levy or an annual charge on the largest fortunes. Far from the “punitive” nightmare critics claim, the report argues that such a tax could be implemented fairly with proper HMRC resources and would be one of the few ways to genuinely close Britain’s wealth gap.

Win, win, win

As the November 2025 Budget looms, the message to the Chancellor is blunt: this is a once-in-a-generation chance to fix a rigged system. Reforming wealth taxes could deliver a triple win—making the country fairer, raising vital revenue, and kick-starting growth by ending the corrosive distortions that reward speculation over real work.

For too long, Britain’s economy has been gamed by those who already have the most. This report is a wake-up call: if we want a fair, thriving nation, the wealthy few must finally pay their fair share—before the divide becomes irreversible and the public’s faith in democracy collapses for good.