Free tickets for Friday's Super-Rich Tax Match at Ilford's Techsoc.com Stadium: Team Wealth v Team Work, kick-off 7pm, with Gary Lineker backing Team Work.

A football match with a fixed result, until half time, comes to the Techsoc.com Stadium in Ilford on Friday 9 October. The Super-Rich Tax Match pits “Team Wealth” against “Team Work”, with millionaires, comedians, footballers and YouTubers playing to press the Chancellor to tax extreme wealth in the Budget on 28 October. Tickets are free, doors open at 6pm and kick-off is 7pm.

The game is organised by the campaign group Patriotic Millionaires UK and Tax Justice UK, with Spencer Owen, the YouTuber known as Spencer FC who founded Hashtag United, and Barry Ferns, the comedian who hosts Barry’s Economics. The organisers describe the format in their press release: “Just like our economy, the game will be rigged, until half time when a ‘wealth tax’ levels the playing field. Can Team Work finally come out on top?”

Who is playing

The economist, author and YouTuber Gary Stevenson and Spencer Owen are among the players. The organisers’ list also includes:

  • the viral creators Ali Woods, Louisa Munch, Christian Brighty and Jimmy the Giant;
  • Archie Maddocks, the comedian and writer the organisers describe as BAFTA award winning;
  • Sapphire McIntosh and Vanessa Puma, who appear in the football team on TV’s Ted Lasso;
  • Marina Purkiss, broadcaster and presenter of The Trawl podcast;
  • Adam McKola, football content creator and podcast host;
  • Thomas Atkinson, a double amputee goalkeeper who, the organisers say, has represented England;
  • Richie Driss, the former Blue Peter presenter;
  • members of Patriotic Millionaires UK.

Gary Lineker backs Team Work from afar

Gary Lineker, the former England captain and a member of Patriotic Millionaires, cannot be at the game but is backing Team Work. He said:

“It’s time for better teamwork, for the super-rich to play their part and contribute properly to the society that helped create their wealth. I’m all for it, and so are the majority of millionaires and Brits. Too many people are struggling while a select few are richer than ever.”

He was among 120 millionaires who signed the group’s open letter to the Prime Minister asking to have their wealth taxed, and added:

“Inequality is draining the potential from our country. This Autumn Budget is an opportunity for our new Chancellor to address this burning issue and reset the UK’s economic system, which has served the wealthiest instead of the workers for far too long.”

What the campaigners want from the Budget

Faiza Shaheen, executive director of Tax Justice UK, said:

“The Budget is time to kick-off sensible reforms that tax the mega-rich fairly, to invest in turning Britain around and improving people’s lives. There’s unbelievable wealth in this country, but it’s held by a tiny minority who have had the system rigged in their favour for too long. The good news is that Burnham and Healey have an open goal in front of them. A wealth tax, and taxing each pound the same, whether it’s income from work or assets, is incredibly popular, pro-worker, and good for the economy. And the revenue can be invested in delivering the reset they promised.”

The two groups name two reforms they want in the Budget on 28 October, which they say would together raise £36 billion a year:

  • equalising capital gains tax with income tax and closing loopholes, which they put at around £12 billion a year;
  • working towards a 2% annual wealth tax on assets over £10 million, which they put at around £24 billion a year, “affecting only the very wealthiest”.
Bar chart of the campaigners' estimates of what two tax reforms would raise a year: equalising capital gains tax with income tax, about 12 billion pounds; a 2% wealth tax on assets over 10 million pounds, about 24 billion pounds.
The campaigners' own estimates of what their two reforms would raise each year. Chart by Ilford Today
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The figures are the campaigners’ own estimates. The organisers have also posted short videos about the match, made by the comedians and creators taking part, on their Instagram page.

What it means for you

  • When: Friday 9 October. Doors 6pm, kick-off 7pm.
  • Where: Techsoc.com Stadium, Ilford.
  • Tickets: free, booked through Fanbase.
  • The politics: this is a campaign event, not a charity match. The result is staged to make a point about the tax system; whether you agree with it is up to you.

For everything else happening in the borough this month, see What’s On in Ilford.