“The new Chancellor should combat widening inequality.” – George tables parliamentary motions. 

The MP for West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Andrew George, is calling on the new Chancellor, John Healey, to combat widening inequality and to repair public finances with a fairer distribution of tax as he prepares for the autumn budget on 28th October. 

Andrew tabled his motions on the first day Parliament returned from recess. 

Andrew said, “I agree with the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, when he has repeatedly referred to the ‘growing inequality which damages us all’ and that the open ‘gap between the UK’s rich and poor was in danger of becoming a chasm.’ 

“For decades, the richest have got richer, and the poor have continued to struggle. We’re a very unequal country. The top 50 richest families now hold more wealth than the poorest half of the population, and there has been a nearly 1,000% increase in the wealth of the UK’s billionaires since 1990. 

“I’d be surprised and disappointed if the new chancellor didn’t take reasonable measures to better promote equality and to lift the poorest out of poverty. 

This isn’t about the politics of envy. It’s the politics of social justice. 

“I know that right-wing lobbyists, media and MPs, and commentators all peddle the myth that to raise moderately higher taxes on the richest would mean they’d leave the country, move their capital and we’d raise less tax. 

But that isn’t borne out by the evidence, as my parliamentary motion explains.” 

Andrew will be seeking cross-party support in the next fortnight as the Chancellor prepares for his budget. 

NOTE: Links to the three parliamentary motions, EDM 939, 940 and 941, are below.
EDM 939: Autumn Budget 2026
EDM 940: Autumn Budget 2026 (No. 2)
EDM 941: Autumn Budget 2026 (No. 3)