Nicolson Report: Poverty Is a Political Choice Costing Britain £75bn a Year
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• Taxpayers Against Poverty sets out bold economic blueprint to tackle long-term poverty
• Proposes major tax reforms to address structural poverty in UK
• Report named after Rev Paul Nicolson anti-poverty campaigner and pioneer of real living wage
London 17 February 2026 - A new report exposing the scale and economic cost of poverty in the UK — and setting out simple, cost-effective steps the government could take to tackle it — has been published by Taxpayers Against Poverty (TAP).
The Nicolson Report: Poverty Benefits No-One lays out the scale of the poverty crisis in the UK and presents a clear, practical blueprint for change. It shows that poverty drains the economy through lost productivity, higher health and social care spending, and reduced tax revenues, costing the UK at least £75bn each year.
The report argues that poverty is the result of long-term policy choices on taxation, public investment and reliance on crisis response rather than prevention. Poverty s not inevitable but engineered. The UK’s outdated economic system, especially an unfair tax system, sustains this failure, the report says, by over taxing work and under-taxing wealth.
More than 14 million people, including 4 million children, live in poverty in the UK. And one in five people are IN work, a reality TAP describes as both economically reckless and morally indefensible.
Tom Burgess, CEO of Taxpayers Against Poverty, said: “Poverty at this scale is not inevitable — it is the result of political and economic choices. Poverty benefits no one. It damages lives, weakens communities, and costs the economy tens of billions of pounds every year.”
The Nicolson Report sets out a bold but achievable programme of reform, arguing that fair taxation of wealth — combined with reinvestment in public services and infrastructure — is essential to restoring economic balance and tackling poverty.
Its recommendations include:
· A 2% annual wealth tax on assets over £10 million, raising an estimated £25 billion per year
· Aligning capital gains tax rates with income tax
· Applying National Insurance to investment income
· Closing income tax loopholes that disproportionately benefit large accumulations of wealth
· Replacing council tax with a proportional property or land value tax
Polling shows such policies, especially a specific wealth tax, command significant public support — including backing from many millionaires.
Alongside tax reform, the Nicolson Report calls for a strengthened welfare safety net, decisive action on wage inequality, and sustained investment in health, education, social care and infrastructure. Taken together, these measures would raise substantial revenue. But the report’s central argument goes further: the UK must stop designing an economy that entrenches poverty in the first place.
“The wealthiest in society did not succeed alone,” Tom Burgess added. “They benefited from publicly funded education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic stability. Reinvesting in those foundations is not punishment — it is basic economic common sense.”
Taxpayers Against Poverty is calling on Keir Starmer’s government to make poverty reduction a national mission, backed by clear targets, accountability and long-term investment.
“This is not about ideology,” Tom Burgess said. “It is about competence. A serious government does not accept mass poverty as normal. It fixes the system that created it. Britain can choose to end the poverty scandal — if it has the courage to act.”
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Notes to editors:
The Nicolson Report: Poverty Benefits No-One is published by Taxpayers Against Poverty (TAP) and draws on existing research, official statistics, and case studies to assess the scale, cost, and causes of poverty in the UK, and to propose practical policy responses.
You can view a draft copy of the report here:
For media enquiries, interviews, or comment: Tom Burgess, CEO, TAP / 0044 07887 724285 Email: taxpayersagainstpoverty@gmail.com
Simon Thomson, Director of Communications and Campaigns, TAP / 0044 7941 679353
Website: www.taxpayersagainstpoverty.org.uk
About Taxpayers Against Poverty Taxpayers against Poverty is a UK-based independent advocacy group dedicated to tackling poverty, inequality, and economic injustice TAP seeks to influence national and local policy by promoting practical economic proposals that have a positive effect on reducing poverty and unnecessary financial hardship using a direct approach to decision makers and other influencers.
TAP was founded by the late Rev Paul Nicolson and is led by Tom Burgess, author of From Here to Prosperity, a new political agenda for a sustainable economy and greater social justice, which proposes taxing wealth more and income less. TAP’s sister organisation is Compassion in Politics which seeks to bring more honesty, respect and compassion into political life.
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