The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Week commencing 26th October 2018

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Super-rich increase

by Pavel Jacomino

A NEW report by a major Swiss bank has shown that hundreds have joined the list of the ultra-rich in Britain despite evidence suggesting that more and more people are slipping into poverty.

Credit Suisse said in a report that 400 more people had entered the club of rich individuals with fortunes of more than £38 million in Britain, an increase of 8.5 per cent compared with the previous 12-month period leading to summer 2017. The report, covered in the Guardian newspaper, showed that Britain now had nearly 5,000 ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), the fourth in the world after the USA, China and Germany.

But the report said the fortunes of the top rich in Britain were growing much faster than the general population in the country, with the booming stock market being a main reason.

An author of the report said more and more people were on the verge of joining the list of ultra-rich in the UK. “There are a lot of people with wealth just below £38 million, and they are tipping over into the UHNWI bracket,” said Anthony Shorrocks, an economist working with Credit Suisse.

The findings come as Britain is grappling to prevent the spread of poverty amongst the lower classes of society. There has also been a significant increase in the number of deaths as a result of homelessness and rough sleeping across Britain. The Independent newspaper reported last year that Britain’s poverty rate had reached an historic level and there was a risk that government and charity efforts to tackle the problem could unravel. The newspaper said a fifth of the British population, around 14 million people, were practically in poverty, mainly as a result of government cuts to social care budgets.

Around a million people are believed to have slipped into poverty in the UK over the last five years, with children and pensioners affected the most.