Britain houses some of the wealthiest individuals in the World.
The total wealth of £Billionaires in the UK is £653 Billion. Time to make them contribute to the health of Society!
For example:
- The cost of building one million Social homes: £140 billion
- The cost of nationalising England’s Water industry: £27 billion
- The cost of re-furbishing England’s crumbling schools: £11.4 billion
- The cost of eradicating the National Health Service building repairs backlog: £10.2 billion
We in Britain have become duped into believing that the wealthiest are somehow “good” for Society – this is simply a tenet of Free Market thinking. Equally “trickle down” theory leads us to believe that the richest are some how good for the rest of the community. A far better way is to consider how wealthy people can contribute to the health and wellbeing of Society as a whole. In this way taxation moves from being a burden to a way of ensuring a healthy society. This tends to be the way that Scandinavians regard the roles of the wealthy.
Here is one example of how surplus wealth can be used for the good of Society:
A National Health Bank to invest in promoting health and wellbeing….
Here’s how it would work.
In future we need to think about health - our total health - as a national asset, to be measured, protected and grown. This would mean a shift in philosophy that allows us to think about prosperity as the sum of health and wealth.
“Like all central banks, the Health Bank will have a powerful role in regulating market players – holding sway over a pay or play system where bad health actors will have to contribute financially to offset their activity. In controlling a major health fund, the Health Bank will be able to take the long view and invest in the community and medical initiatives that will strengthen overall health resilience across the UK. To do this it needs scale. So, I propose we introduce a flat 1% inheritance tax ringfenced for this fund. This would create a financial force to make it possible to make the interventions and research that will deliver longer, healthier and happier lives.”
Sally Davies, Former chief Medical Officer for England
