6 days Ago By Millie Cooke
Brexit is to blame for the exodus of millionaires plaguing London, the culture secretary has said, vowing to get “a far better deal with the European Union that makes sure that we can continue to support British business”. It comes after a report found that London is no longer one of the top five wealthiest cities in the world after losing a higher proportion of millionaires than anywhere other than Moscow. The study, conducted by New World Wealth for advisory firm Henley and Partners, said the UK’s capital has lost 11,300 dollar millionaires over the past year, including 18 centimillionaires - someone who has more than $100 million - and two billionaires.
Asked about the findings, Lisa Nandy primarily blamed Brexit for the issues and said the Labour government is “taking the right approach” and “striking the right balance” when it comes to taxing wealth and supporting business. The culture secretary told Sky News: “The report points to a variety of factors that have led to that, most specifically Brexit, and one of the things that we're committed to doing as a government is making sure that we get a far better deal with the European Union that make sure that we can continue to support British business. “So in my area, for example, we've got significant problems, as has the EU, because music artists aren't able to tour from the UK and the EU and vice versa.
Now that's not good for anybody, so closer cooperation is in people's interests.” She added: “But the tax regime in Britain is still highly competitive. We've got the lowest main rate of corporation tax in the G7 and, look, when I come on programs like this, I get asked a lot, ‘why aren't you taxing wealthy people more?’ “The fact that you're challenging me today to say is the tax rate too high, I think broadly, shows that we're taking the right approach and we're striking the right balance.
” The UK’s financial watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has estimated that Brexit would wipe 4 per cent per annum from the UK’s economy in the long run, as a result of an increase in non-tariff barriers on UK-EU trade. Sir Keir is currently attempting to pursue a “reset” with the European Union, pledging to “make Brexit work” by renegotiating the deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and the Tories. The study, conducted before the fallout after the announcement of Donald Trump’s tariffs , found that London is only one of two cities in the top 50, alongside Moscow, which now has fewer rich people than a decade ago.
The capital, which now has 215,700 millionaires, has lost 12 per cent of its wealthiest residents since 2014. The report says the fall has come as a result of Brexit, tax rises and a fall in the value of the pound. Meanwhile, Moscow has lost 25 per cent of its wealthiest, primarily as a result of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The study comes amid growing calls for the government to implement a wealth tax after Labour took an axe to the UK’s ballooning welfare bill, with an estimated million disabled people expected to lose their benefits. But Paul Johnson , the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), last month told The Independent that “no country in the world has ever successfully had a wealth tax that’s raised serious money”, saying the levy poses significant administrative problems..
