Andy Burnham has been warned to rule out a wealth tax before he even reaches Downing Street, with one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory firms claiming that speculation alone is already driving capital, and the entrepreneurs who deploy it, out of Britain.
The warning from Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, follows an interview in which Burnham, who replaces Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister on Monday, declined to rule out a levy on the assets of Britain’s wealthiest citizens. Speaking to Gary Lineker’s podcast, the incoming PM suggested people may eventually be asked for “a little more” and said fairness demanded difficult decisions ahead.
For business owners, the concern is less the tax itself than the uncertainty. “A wealth tax that has not been proposed is already doing damage,” Green said. “Money does not sit around waiting for legislation. It moves the moment a government signals it is willing to go there, and Mr Burnham just signalled it.
“He needs to put this to rest today, not let it hang over Britain for months while capital quietly heads for the door.”
The timing is awkward for a new administration promising stability. The UK lost an estimated 16,500 millionaires in 2025, one of the largest single-year outflows recorded anywhere in the world, and industry forecasts suggest that figure could double again in 2026 as the effects of the abolition of the non-dom regime continue to ripple through. Analysts had already warned that Britain faced the largest exodus of millionaires globally before the leadership change, and more recent research suggests the non-dom exodus is running far worse than forecast, putting billions in expected tax receipts at risk.
The competition is not standing still. The UAE, Switzerland and Italy have all positioned themselves as beneficiaries of Britain’s loss, actively courting the capital and talent that London once took for granted.
Green argues the precedents are not encouraging. “History has run this experiment more than once, and the result never changes,” he said. “France tried it and watched tens of thousands of its wealthiest residents leave before scrapping the policy. Sweden tried it and lost entrepreneurs and headquarters it never got back.
“Wealth is mobile in a way wages are not, and every government that has taxed it hard has ended up chasing capital that has already gone.”
The economic maths, he contends, rarely works as proponents assume. “A wealth tax reads well on a policy paper and collapses on contact with reality. Tax accumulated assets and the people holding them start planning their exit immediately. What follows is not new revenue for the Treasury. It’s a shrinking base of investment, jobs and philanthropy, all disproportionately reliant on the very people this tax would target.”
For the SME community, the second-order effects may matter most. Departing wealth takes with it the angel investment, family office backing and consumer spending that smaller firms depend on, and Green says the damage is already underway.
“Family offices are having relocation conversations this week that would not have happened a year ago. Entrepreneurs are asking advisers whether Britain is still worth building in. None of that needs a wealth tax to pass. It only needs the idea to stay alive.”
His conclusion is blunt: “Andy Burnham has a choice in his very first weeks as Prime Minister. Rule out a wealth tax now, or watch Britain’s record wealth exodus become his opening legacy.
“There’s no version of this where keeping the door open on a wealth tax helps Britain compete for capital. Every day it stays open, more of that capital walks through it.”
