A national campaign calling for higher taxes on Britain’s wealthiest individuals arrived in Newcastle this week, with the Patriotic Millionaires UK bus pulling up on Market Street in steady rain emblazoned with the message: “Tax us, the super-rich.”
Ian Gregg, former Chairman of Greggs and long-time supporter of the campaign, is urging the Chancellor to raise taxes on the richest when she delivers her Autumn Budget later this month. Gregg, speaking in a personal capacity, said the North East provided a clear illustration of why change was overdue.
The tour comes as new analysis by Patriotic Millionaires UK suggests that local public services across the UK have been closing at a rate of roughly one every three days since 2020, with children’s centres, leisure facilities, sports halls and community hubs disappearing from towns already facing long-term deprivation. Campaigners say the financial strain on councils is particularly visible in regions like the North East, where budgets have been cut repeatedly over the past decade and where demand for support services remains high.
“We hope the Chancellor uses this Budget to raise taxes on the wealthiest people first – those who can most afford it – instead of ordinary people who can’t,” Gregg said. “People in the North East, and across the UK, want to see a fairer and more equal society. Almost a quarter of neighbourhoods in the North East are highly deprived while the wealth of a small few has increased hugely.”
Across the region, indicators of hardship remain deeply embedded. Government figures show that Middlesbrough has some of the highest rates of income, education and crime-related deprivation in England, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Hartlepool tops the list for employment deprivation. Child poverty is also acute: the End Child Poverty Coalition reports that more than half of children in Middlesbrough and Thornaby East grow up in poverty, with rates at 43% in Newcastle Central and West.
For Gregg, these statistics underline the reality facing many households. “As Britain continues to face this economic black hole we cannot expect people who are already struggling to heat their homes and feed their children to pick up the pieces,” he said. “The same applies to our shared and much-needed public services, which cannot afford to face further cuts.”
New data reveals scale of closures
To build a clearer picture of what years of constrained budgets have meant for communities, Patriotic Millionaires UK submitted Freedom of Information requests to councils across the country. The group says the findings show a steady erosion of facilities that many residents once took for granted: an average monthly loss of three children’s centres, two sports or activity centres, and two youth or community support sites.
The organisation describes these closures as evidence of the cumulative effects of austerity, increased service demand, and funding models that have failed to keep pace with social need. They argue that the impact is not only financial but structural, affecting everything from early years support to community cohesion.
Two tax reforms they say could raise £36 billion
Patriotic Millionaires UK is advocating for two specific fiscal changes that they say would target only the richest households and raise significant revenue during this Parliament.
• Reform Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
They propose taxing returns on wealth at the same rates as income from work. Their analysis suggests this could raise around £12 billion a year.
• Introduce a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million
A measure they say would affect only a very small number of people, generating an estimated £24 billion annually.
Campaigners argue the combined £36 billion could bolster local authorities, stabilise public services, and create space to reduce reliance on taxing lower-income earners.
“Our shared public wealth hasn’t disappeared – it’s flowed upwards”
Phil White, engineer, consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said the campaign seeks to address what he sees as the root cause of declining public investment.
“Across the UK people are losing out, not just in their own pockets but also in communities,” he said. “Our countries are getting poorer because we’ve been too slow to tackle the root causes of our ailing economy. Our shared public wealth hasn’t disappeared, it’s just made its way to the mega-wealthy where it has become less and less productive, at the expense of the country and everyone else.”
White argued that extreme concentrations of wealth have left frontline services exposed. “As this growing inequality thrives, our much-needed services get cut because budgets don’t stretch far enough – but it doesn’t need to be this way. Millionaires like myself and the vast majority of the public agree that it’s time we created an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”
He added that the longstanding idea that wealth trickles down is “simply not true”, calling instead for a tax system designed to “support a brighter, thriving, and hopeful future”.
Newcastle stop part of wider national tour
The group launched its UK chapter in 2021, taking inspiration from similar efforts in the US where wealthy individuals have campaigned for higher taxation of extreme wealth. The current tour began in Edinburgh on 12 November and will travel through the country before concluding in London. Details of the tour can be found on the Patriotic Millionaires UK website: https://www.patrioticmillionaires.uk/campaigns/
At each stop, campaigners aim to speak with residents, gather support and encourage people to contact their MPs ahead of the Chancellor’s statement on 26 November.
This article is based on a media release from Patriotic Millionaires.
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