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The BBC has done it again – framing a sensible, economically necessary policy as if it is something suspicious.
Reporting on Green Party leader Zack Polanski’s interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC claimed he had “defended” his party’s proposals for a wealth tax – as though the very idea of asking the super-rich to pay their fair share must automatically be wrong.
But anyone paying attention to the state of the United Kingdom knows the opposite is true.
The UK is suffering from the worst wealth inequality in generations. While ordinary people struggle to pay for food, heating and housing, the richest one per cent continue to accumulate vast unearned fortunes, shielded by decades of tax cuts and loopholes.
Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – hardly bastions of radical left economics – have repeatedly said that higher taxes on wealth are essential for both fairness and fiscal stability.
So why is the BBC treating this as something a politician has to defend?
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The answer lies in the corporation’s habitual framing of economic stories.
Whenever a progressive policy is proposed, it is automatically presented as controversial, unrealistic or “in need of defence.”
When a Conservative or right-wing policy benefits the rich, it is reported as “encouraging growth,” “stimulating investment,” or simply “common sense.”
Look closely at the BBC’s story and you’ll see how this bias works.
Critics of the wealth tax – those who claim it would “drive the rich out of the country” – are quoted without challenge or evidence.
The supposed “risks” of taxing wealth are set out plainly, while the overwhelming evidence of benefit is confined to Polanski’s own comments, softened with phrases like “he admitted it was not a panacea.”
What’s missing entirely is the broader picture: the obscene rise in asset wealth, the flatlining of wages, and the fact that taxing accumulated riches would raise billions for public services and help rebuild the economy from the bottom up.
Instead, the BBC once again helps normalise inequality by treating fairness as a radical experiment.
Polanski himself was clear: “We need to tax unearned wealth as much as we tax earned income.”
That’s not radical – it’s common sense. And yet in the world of BBC politics reporting, it’s still treated as something outside the mainstream.
The Greens’ wealth tax proposals – one per cent on assets above £10 million, two per cent above £1 billion – would barely touch the lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy but could raise between £15 billion and £25 billion a year. That’s money that could transform the NHS, education, public transport and social care.
Perhaps that’s the real problem for the BBC’s establishment mindset: Once people start to see that inequality isn’t inevitable – that it’s a political choice – they might start asking who benefits from keeping it this way.
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Why is the BBC saying a wealth tax that the UK needs has to be ‘defended’?
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The BBC has done it again – framing a sensible, economically necessary policy as if it is something suspicious.
Reporting on Green Party leader Zack Polanski’s interview on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC claimed he had “defended” his party’s proposals for a wealth tax – as though the very idea of asking the super-rich to pay their fair share must automatically be wrong.
But anyone paying attention to the state of the United Kingdom knows the opposite is true.
The UK is suffering from the worst wealth inequality in generations. While ordinary people struggle to pay for food, heating and housing, the richest one per cent continue to accumulate vast unearned fortunes, shielded by decades of tax cuts and loopholes.
Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – hardly bastions of radical left economics – have repeatedly said that higher taxes on wealth are essential for both fairness and fiscal stability.
So why is the BBC treating this as something a politician has to defend?
The answer lies in the corporation’s habitual framing of economic stories.
Whenever a progressive policy is proposed, it is automatically presented as controversial, unrealistic or “in need of defence.”
When a Conservative or right-wing policy benefits the rich, it is reported as “encouraging growth,” “stimulating investment,” or simply “common sense.”
Look closely at the BBC’s story and you’ll see how this bias works.
Critics of the wealth tax – those who claim it would “drive the rich out of the country” – are quoted without challenge or evidence.
The supposed “risks” of taxing wealth are set out plainly, while the overwhelming evidence of benefit is confined to Polanski’s own comments, softened with phrases like “he admitted it was not a panacea.”
What’s missing entirely is the broader picture: the obscene rise in asset wealth, the flatlining of wages, and the fact that taxing accumulated riches would raise billions for public services and help rebuild the economy from the bottom up.
Instead, the BBC once again helps normalise inequality by treating fairness as a radical experiment.
Polanski himself was clear: “We need to tax unearned wealth as much as we tax earned income.”
That’s not radical – it’s common sense. And yet in the world of BBC politics reporting, it’s still treated as something outside the mainstream.
The Greens’ wealth tax proposals – one per cent on assets above £10 million, two per cent above £1 billion – would barely touch the lifestyles of the ultra-wealthy but could raise between £15 billion and £25 billion a year. That’s money that could transform the NHS, education, public transport and social care.
Perhaps that’s the real problem for the BBC’s establishment mindset: Once people start to see that inequality isn’t inevitable – that it’s a political choice – they might start asking who benefits from keeping it this way.
Support Vox Political!
With social media algorithms acting as gatekeepers – allowing users to read only what their owners want them to, sites like Vox Political need the support of our readers like never before.
You can help by making a donation:
https://Ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
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