Peak Injustice: can Labour combine reversing inequality with economic growth? Danny Dorling

Taxing wealthy farmers - and the rest; the bad news we must confront and the positive signs we should identify; and the courage that the new Labour government needs to bring an end to injustice, rising inequality and the largest growth in child poverty in the world.
Inequality expert Danny Dorling, who joined the Labour Party four decades ago as a teenager, addresses Lewes Labour Party, drawing on his new books Peak Injustice: Solving Britain's Inequality Crisis, and Seven Children: Inequality and Britain's Next Generation.
Audio recording of a talk given by Professor Dorling on 23 November 2024 including audience Q&A. Note that sound levels are variable.
"I'm going to try and tell you things that may surprise you. I'm not going to go through stuff you think I should go through, because many of you will have heard that kind of thing before. The first is the good news, the second is the bad news, the third is the mundane news, and the fourth is what we have to do to be brave," he began.
"Now I don't think it's fair to just tax rich farmers," he went on to say. "I think we should be looking at wealth taxes and proper inheritance taxes across the board, for other people as rich as those rich farmers. And not just individuals and families, but also institutions. Say, the 20 richest colleges and schools in the country. Say just 20% of their endowment a year. Do that for four or five years, and you've got rid of historic inequalities in this country. I forget what Eton's endowment is now - but a few years ago it was 400 or 500 million that Eton had. It's just money not being used. This is money being used to grow huge endowments even bigger.
This initiative, he said, would be "a short-term thing; it won't raise enough to run a country. But we should be talking about raising wealth more equitably, so when those farmers drive their tractors into Westminster, we can say to them, I'm sorry, but we do need the NHS to work next year and the year after, so we will be taxing you on inheritance, but don't worry - we understand your anger. We're going to make it fairer. We'll also be taking the money off the richest colleges in Oxford and Cambridge as well."
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