《衛報》評英國貧富分化：差距變成鴻溝

The Guardian view on Britain's wealth divide: a gap becomes a chasm

《衛報》評英國貧富分化：差距變成鴻溝

《衛報》

Looking at a range of indicators, researchers from the Resolution Foundation thinktank did the maths on how 16 months of lockdown had affected households' wealth.The stark conclusion was that the pandemic had "turbo-charged" the already yawning gap between the rich and the poor.

決議基金會智庫的研究人員通過觀察一系列指標，計算出16個月的封鎖是如何影響家庭財富的。殘酷的結論是：疫情迅速加劇了本已巨大的貧富差距。

決議基金會

In one sense this should come as no surprise.For decades, the unspoken rule of British politics has been that the asset-rich shall become richer.Adjusted for inflation, the value of household wealth has doubled since 1980, but revenue from taxes on wealth has remained more or less stagnant.

某種意義上，這本該不足為奇。幾十年來，英國政治不必言明的規則就一直是：資產富裕者會變得越來越富。為了調控通貨膨脹，自1980年以來，家庭財富價值已經翻了一番，但對富人徵稅的收入卻或多或少陷入停滯。

Reforms to capital gains tax were contemplated in the spring by the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and then speedily returned to the back burner.Tax reliefs on savings and investments have gone untouched.

今年春天，財政大臣Rishi Sunak慎重考慮過資本利得稅改革的問題，但很快就擱置一旁了。對儲蓄和投資的稅收減免也並未改變。

Rishi Sunak

Polls have suggested robust public support for higher taxes on wealth.This is based on a justified sense that the gap between the rich and the poor has become too large and that the rich have become richer in recent years.

民意調查顯示：公眾強烈支持對財富徵稅。這基於一種合理認知，即貧富差距已經變得過大，而且近些年來富人變得越來越富。

There is also a broad consensus that the times demand a greater level of government spending for the common good.When it comes to addressing the real terms decline in nurses' pay, dealing with the huge crisis in educational attainment, or addressing growing child poverty, the government routinely points to budget constraints.

還有一個廣泛共識，即時代的發展需要政府為公共利益投入更多資金。當涉及到解決護士薪酬下降、處理嚴重的學歷危機，或解決日益增長的兒童貧困等實際問題時，政府一貫以預算有限為理由。

貧困兒童

After 40 years of gains at the top, the case for reforming Britain's wealth-related taxes was strong before the pandemic.Given the huge challenges that an even more unequal post-pandemic Britain will face, it is now surely unarguable.

疫情前，富人的收入經歷了40年的增長，改革英國財富相關稅收的理由早已充分。鑒於後疫情時代更不平等的英國將要面臨的巨大挑戰，稅收改革的必要性在當前是毋庸置疑的。

（文章來源：《衛報》 翻譯：敏銳餃子Emrys）