Should Billionaires Exist in the UK?

In recent days Clive Lewis MP (backed by Momentum acolytes) has stated on shows like Politics Live and Newsnight that billionaires should not exist in the UK because it is in his view unfair and also that people don't 'need' billions.

[video]https://twitter.com/i/status/1190039075706814464[/video]

I would like to know your thoughts.

- My own view is that Clive's comments are very wrong and indicative of the Politics of envy. Clive argues that we should not have billionaires in the UK because a small minority of people are homeless or struggling however in my view the two issues are not linked. While a minority of billionaires may employ folk abroad and just live here, many of them are providing jobs, investing in our firms for example and this decade have paid a higher proportion of our income tax total than ever before.

Far from condemning billionaires, i celebrate them. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have done more for Africans than their own governments, Zukenburg has given a good £10bn to charity and Elon Musk has pushed the boundaries of innovation to the point that he may revolutionise entire sectors.

Finally i consider his Momentum backers to have the most dangerous view. A momentum woman (head of their electoral campaign for labour i think) argued that we should not have billionaires because 'nobody needs a billion'. I find this view dangerous because not everybody has the same level of aspiration. While some people only have ideas of what they would spend £5m on, i have plans right upto £10bn (not that i will ever have it) on the basis that it would allow me to enter fields like space mining and genetic engineering. To set an arbitary limit is to potentially impose restriction on the next Elon Musk.

Vote and provide your opinion.

I think they should be allowed to exist, provided that they pay a special higher rate of tax, perhaps 60%.

In recent days Clive Lewis MP (backed by Momentum acolytes) has stated on shows like Politics Live and Newsnight that billionaires should not exist in the UK because it is in his view unfair and also that people don't 'need' billions.

[video]https://twitter.com/i/status/1190039075706814464[/video]

I would like to know your thoughts.

- My own view is that Clive's comments are very wrong and indicative of the Politics of envy. Clive argues that we should not have billionaires in the UK because a small minority of people are homeless or struggling however in my view the two issues are not linked. While a minority of billionaires may employ folk abroad and just live here, many of them are providing jobs, investing in our firms for example and this decade have paid a higher proportion of our income tax total than ever before.

I wouldn't know if billionaires shouldn't 'exist', but I think the highest rate of tax should be increased.

For example, income over £500k or £1m being taxed higher than income over £150k.

If you do that, it likely just to make these people hiding their money. Like pumping their abroad through a net of tax-optimisation companies.
Not to mention that income taxes are generally inefficient. They only make sense in war-economy, and this is when they were first introduced. WWs.

Otherwise, other taxes like taxes on luxury goods are much more efficient and difficult to dodge.

Sure, but why would this happen for a 50% rate on, say, income exceeding £500k any more than a 45% rate on income exceeding £150k?

I wouldn't know if billionaires shouldn't 'exist', but I think the highest rate of tax should be increased.

For example, income over £500k or £1m being taxed higher than income over £150k.

Yes but try asking yourself a different question.

When we are the 5th largest economy in the world, with billionaires and millionaires, why do we allow persecution of the poor for the benefits of the billionaires and millionaires?

Nobody is persecuting the poor, unlike Corbyn and his ”Jewish problem”.

I think that's a phantom problem, regarding Corbyns Jewish problem.

If nobody is perpersecuting the poor, can you explain to me why the gap between the riches and poorest is growing every year. And also why is a housing crisis which quite litterally kills poor people every year.