Rich list Rishi Sunak is under pressure to tax Britain’s 177 billionaires as the super-rich soar

Rishi Sunak has been blasted for failing to help those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis, defying calls for an emergency budget and refusing to impose a windfall tax on energy companies

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure to get the super-rich to pay their share of taxes after the rich list revealed Britain now has 177 billionaires.

It also showed that while millions were plunged into poverty amid the cost of living crisis, the wealth of the richest 250 people rose by more than £50 billion to £710.7 billion.

The Chancellor and his wife Akshata Murthy were 222nd on the rich list, largely due to their £690million stake in Infosys.

It was revealed last month that Ms Murthy was using her Non-Dom status to save an estimated £20million in taxes.

Mr Sunak has been blasted for failing to help those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis, defying calls for an emergency budget and refusing to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

Tax Justice UK’s Robert Palmer said: “The Sunday Times’ latest rich list will be eye candy for people struggling with rising bills.

“It is high time that the Chancellor acted. We need to close the tax loopholes, end non-dom status and reform the way we tax wealth.

“We also need a windfall tax on energy companies’ runaway profits.”

The Chancellor, who warned this week that the next few months “will be tough” for many families, is only the second MP to ever appear on the Sunday Times rich list. The first was Tory landowner Richard Benyon, who is worth more than £100m.

Julia Davies of Patriotic Millionaires UK said: “The fact that our Chancellor is now joining the ranks of the richest people in the UK – while he and the Government refuse to consider taxing wealth over work – is a shocking one Insight into our political system. ”

Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Center said: “It is not efficient, sensible or necessary to run the economy in such a way that people who are already incredibly wealthy can accumulate more money while much of the population is being crushed by a cost of living crisis .

“With stagnant wages and miserable economic growth, the more equitable distribution of existing wealth is the most important political challenge of our time.”

Sri and Gopi Hinduja, who run Mumbai-based conglomerate Hinduja Group, jumped to the top of the wealthy list after their wealth grew by more than £11 billion to £28.47 billion last year.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s fortune has been halved to £6 billion.