THE Tory government must finally introduce a wealth tax on the super-rich to provide vital support for those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, the Scottish Greens urged today.

A 1 per cent annual wealth tax on net assets over £10 million could raise nearly £10 billion a year while only impacting the richest 0.4 per cent of the population, according to research by the Tax Justice Network.

Scrapping the “non-dom” tax status favoured by infamous tax avoiders, such as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s wife, could raise a further £3.2 billion a year.

Scottish Greens finance spokesman Ross Greer said that millions of households are struggling through a “long and difficult winter” while the super-rich “have become even richer.”

He said that 2023 “must be the year we change that gross injustice.

“We are in the worst cost-of-living crisis for generations and it is only right that those with frankly obscene levels of personal wealth should have that taxed so that we can provide essential support to those who are struggling.

“The recovery we build must be fair and just. We can’t continue with a system where the vast majority of wealth is in the hands of a tiny number of people.”

Mr Greer said that the Scottish Greens have worked to ensure that the country has the “fairest and most progressive” income tax system in Britain, providing hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment in public services.

But he said that the most important powers for taxing wealth and assets lie with Westminster.

“It is time for Rishi Sunak and [Chancellor] Jeremy Hunt to break with the habit of a lifetime and finally put people and services ahead of the swelling bank balances of their millionaire friends and provide the support that is so badly needed,” he said.