Nigel Farage has voiced his concern after a survey suggested millionaires are quitting Britain in their droves to escape the nation’s heavy tax burden.
And speaking a week after the general election in which Sir Keir Starmer got the keys to Number 10, the Reform UK leader – now the MP for Clacton – also issued a five-word warning: “Labour will make it worse.”
The research, published by Henley Global, highlights the countries where so-called high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) have moved from and to so far this year.
Britain has lost 9,500 in 2024, second only to China with 15,500 and more than twice as many as India (4,300), which is third on the list.
Conversely, 6,700 HNWIs have moved to the United Arab Emirates, 3,800 to the United States and 3,500 to Singapore.
Mr Farage, whose party’s manifesto included a pledge to raise the threshold at which workers start paying tax to from £12,571 to £20,000, has frequently voiced his concern about what he sees as punitively high levels of taxation.
Commenting on the data on X, he said: “This is what happens when you raise taxes too high.
“The Tories did this and Labour are likely to make it worse.”
In an analysis published on the Visual Capitalist website on June 24, Marcus Lu said of Britain: “This is an interesting and noteworthy reversal in fortune, since historically, the UK has drawn wealthy families from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.”
In 2023/24, the UK government raised around £1,095 billion (£1.1 trillion) in receipts – in other words, income from taxes and other sources.
This equates to roughly 40 percent of the size of the UK economy, as measured by GDP, the highest level since the early 1980s.
Speaking prior to last Thursday’s nationwide poll, Sir Keir refused to pledge tax cuts when pressed on the issue.
Asked about his plans, Sir Keir said no tax rises were needed “other than the ones we’ve set out”.
However, he added: “I’m not going to pretend that we could make tax cuts unless they’re funded and sustainable.
“We have to repair the damage to our economy and that’s why our central focus is on growth, on wealth creation, on making sure that people feel materially better off under a Labour government.”
He continued: “Voters will be better off because we will grow the economy, people will feel their living standards are rising, and better off in the broadest sense of the word because we intended to get the NHS not just back on its feet but fit for the future, make sure our public services are what people expect, what they’re entitled to, in fact.”