British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing competing pressure to introduce a wealth tax, with think tank Compass proposing two different designs within days of each other and a formal proposal not yet on the table — the debate is live, not settled policy.
Two Compass Proposals, Two Different Targets
Compass, the left-leaning campaign group led by Neal Lawson, has proposed a wealth tax of 5–10% on assets above £10 million, with the revenue intended to fund a universal basic income, according to Leeds Live. Separately, a Compass policy document reviewed by The Independent and reported by Birmingham Live — part of a wider set of “100 policies for the new prime minister’s first 100 days” — floats a 2% tax on every £1 million of an individual’s wealth. That threshold would touch a lot of UK property: Savills research cited in the report puts the number of homes valued at £1 million or more nationally at 673,143, with roughly 340,620 of those in London alone.
Burnham himself has hinted a wealth tax could feature in his 10-year plan, but Birmingham Live reports his closer advisers have instead focused on a narrower lever — raising the capital gains tax threshold to match income tax rates. Speaking previously to podcaster Gary Lineker, Burnham said he wants “a greater sense of fairness” without being seen as “coming in with grudges and agendas” against any one group — language that reads as caution, not commitment, on the broader wealth tax idea.
A Narrower Academic Version, and a Real Case Against Broad Design
A separate academic proposal, from Gabriel Zucman — the Paris School of Economics and UC Berkeley professor known as an architect of the global wealth-tax movement — and Ben Tippet of King’s College London, argues explicitly against a broad-based wealth tax. Their target is narrower: a minimum tax on extreme wealth designed to make billionaires pay tax rates comparable to everyone else, which they argue the UK government “could implement quickly” given the small number of households involved. The advocacy group Patriotic Millionaires has separately written to Burnham asking to be taxed more, backing a 2% levy on wealth above £10 million, per LBC.
The strongest pushback isn’t moral — it’s practical, Henley Business School finance professor Dr Miriam Marra writes in an LBC opinion piece. Wealth, unlike wages, sits in private companies, trusts, property portfolios and complex investment vehicles that are hard to value and easy to restructure or relocate; well-advised taxpayers can contest rules in court for years. She points to California, where wealthy residents are actively fighting a similar state-level proposal, as a preview of the resistance any UK version would face. Her prescription isn’t to abandon the idea but to pursue five more collectible levers instead or alongside it: tighter capital gains taxation, mark-to-market taxation of publicly traded assets, stronger inheritance tax on large transfers, fairer land taxes on passive rental income, and heavier investment in enforcement, transparency and international cooperation.
Zagdim’s View — Nothing here is enacted policy yet — what exists is two competing think-tank designs, an academic minimum-tax alternative, and a real argument about collectibility, with Burnham’s own advisers leaning toward a narrower capital-gains fix rather than a broad wealth tax. Anyone with UK-based assets should watch which of these routes his government actually tables, not the headline percentage figures currently circulating. Data and events in this piece are current as of 15 August 2026.
References
Leeds Live – Andy Burnham told to introduce 10 per cent wealth tax on certain households / Birmingham Live – Andy Burnham told to introduce 2% wealth tax on households with this much money / LBC – Burnham shouldn’t let practical problems kill the wealth tax debate
