Millionaires join Davos protests, demanding ‘tax us now’

theguardian.com:

A group of millionaires have joined protests against the World Economic Forum gathering of the business and political elite in Davos, Switzerland, demanding that governments “tax us now” to tackle the burgeoning gulf between rich and poor.

The unlikely protesters, who describe themselves as “patriotic millionaires”, called on world leaders attending the annual conference on Sunday to immediately introduce fresh taxes on the wealthy in order to tackle the “cost of living scandal playing out in multiple nations around the world”.

The charity Oxfam recently warned that rising inequality could push as many as 263 million more people into extreme poverty in 2022, reversing decades of progress.

Phil White, a former business consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “While the rest of the world is collapsing under the weight of an economic crisis, billionaires and world leaders meet in this private compound to discuss turning points in history.

“It’s outrageous that our political leaders listen to those who have the most, know the least about the economic impact of this crisis, and many of whom pay infamously little in taxes. The only credible outcome from this conference is to tax the richest and tax us now. Tax the delegates attending Davos 2022.”

The protest comes as it was revealed that there were now a record 177 billionaires in the UK with a combined fortune of £653bn.

At the same more than 250,000 UK households are predicted to “slide into destitution” next year because of soaring food and energy bills. That would take the total number in extreme poverty to about 1.2 million, unless the government acts to help the poorest families hit by the huge rise in energy prices, according to the National Institute for