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I was really proud to act as Strategic Comms Consultant for this report. It's a really thorough piece of work, based on 11 focus groups and two polls carried out between December 19-July 20. Read Rob's thread for the key points. I'm also going to share some thoughts of my own... https://twitter.com/robertnpalmer/status/1303964459707359233
For me the most interesting finding was how positive the public are about billionaires. In every focus group, regardless of geographical location, people were defensive and even admiring of the super rich. I recognise this will be disappointing and confusing for progressives.
Of course *some* participants were critical of billionaires. Interestingly, my observation was that the more affluent participants were more critical of billionaires. The less affluent participants were very resistant to generic attacks on the wealthy. What can we make of this?
The first thing to note is that people regard wealth primarily as a form of security (let's face it, they're right). Thus, having lots of wealth is a route to a happier, safer life. People are not going to be critical of lifestyles they want. See this extract from p.19
Participants believed strongly that Britain is a meritocracy. If you're skint and living in a deprived area, it's understandable that you are attached to the belief that you can work hard to change your circumstances. The alternative is pretty hopeless. Extract from p.21:
The second issue to note is that people struggle to understand the tax system and wider economy. Part 5 of the report covers this (p.23 onwards). People have trouble talking about extreme wealth in concrete terms. They don't want to put a figure on it. (1/2)
Instead they identify wealth using symbols. For e.g. one participant said being wealthy is owning a jet ski: "you never see anyone down the pub with a jet ski" (I mean he's right). I wonder if people attitudes might change if they could conceptualise how much money ÂŁ1bn is (2/2)
Really cannot emphasise enough how little people understand about the economy and tax. Recognising this is an integral part of any campaign. In the report we reference this poll showing a 1 in 4 Brits don't understand what Chancellor of the Exchequer means https://yougov.co.uk/topics/economy/articles-reports/2020/03/11/brits-are-confused-economic-jargon
Back to the super rich: I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "but people hate the wealthy, they hate Mike Ashley!" And you'd be right. They DO hate Mike Ashley! But they hate him because he behaves badly, not because he's rich.
(See p.21 of the report for more detail on good rich people and bad rich people)
So, do we give up on taxing the rich altogether? No. People are VERY supportive of wealth taxes (yes it's a contradiction, but this is public opinion we're dealing with - get used to contradictions), and they're worried about rising inequality.
These findings should get us thinking about HOW we communicate our principles. They're not an invitation for us to drop our principles. The public agree with us on plenty, we just need to figure out how to communicate in a way that actually resonates.
I'll be writing a couple of blogs about this on my own platform, but if any journalist wants a quote or a spokesperson if they're covering the report you can speak to @prformativcontr, Head of Comms for @TaxJusticeUK. Director @robertnpalmer is best placed to speak in the media.
