'Tax cut wouldn't help rich, because people who get £150k aren't rich', says famous hotelier
4 October 2022, 10:05 | Updated: 4 October 2022, 10:08
A legendary hotelier has said the government’s now-abolished plan to cut the 45% tax rate wouldn’t have helped the rich because people on a salary of £150,000 ‘aren’t rich’.
Nick Ferrari said that £150,000 would feel like winning the lottery to nurses, teachers and firefighters who might be earning anywhere between £20k and £40k a year, but Sir Rocco Forte said £150k is just a salary of ‘middle management’.
Billionaire Sir Forte owns 14 luxury hotels across the world including the famous Balmoral in Edinburgh and Brown’s Hotel in London.
READ MORE:Liz Truss says MPs 'love her', despite senior MPs like Gove and Shapps opposing her plans
Speaking in the on-air interview this morning, Tory donor Sir Forte said plans to scrap the tax bracket was ‘completely the right thing to do’.
He explained: “We’ve had the highest level of taxation this country has ever had and it’s not rich people, its people on £150,000 a year which is the threshold for the highest rate of tax. They’re not rich [those] who are living on a salary.
“The threshold in the United States for the highest rate of tax is half a million, we’re at £150,000.
Sir Rocco Forte claims people on £150,000-a-year are not rich
“It maybe a lot of money but it doesn’t make them rich people. They’re actually the middle management in businesses, who businesses rely on and they’ve got to be incentivised.
“This whole idea that a redistribution of wealth instead of actually encouraging growth and encouraging people to work hard and keep the money they earn is completely the wrong approach. Europe is already and it’s a disaster area. All countries in Europe are worse off than we are.
“We’ve had 20 years of the same policy being followed over and over again without success. You’ve got to do something to kickstart thing.”
