A former financial trader who became YouTuber of social justice earned the anger of Fiona Bruce last night after he dared to try her about her six-digit BBC salary.
Gary Stevenson, a former Citibank trader, has submitted a non-supported claim on the program that the 36-year-old BBC veteran and other panel members are now richer than at the start of the pandemic.
The Dartford -Panel was asked in the opening of the show by public member Michael Kent or 'Benefit claims or billionaires' should take the weight of the deficit after £ 5 billion in welfare reductions were revealed in the spring declaration.
Stevenson – who became a multi -billionaire in his former job and now ran against 'Moray Decay' in the banks – seemed to suggest that the deficiency had only grown up, and the living norms had fallen because of the absence to tax the rich.
'Does anyone know what the total government deficit is since the start of Covid? It is now a trillion pound, which is £ 20,000 for every adult in the province.
'So if each of you is not £ 20,000 cash, someone else has your money. Does anyone know who has that trillion pound? They are the richest people in the country. This is a problem of growing wealth inequality. '
“These men and women are not £ 20,000 cash Richer,” he said, gestures with his pen to the audience, some of whom looked around.
“I will tell you who is likely – every person on this panel, okay?” He did not exclude himself.
Former financial trader became the campaigner of social justice Gary Stevenson, earned the anger of Fiona Bruce after he seemed to suggest that she was now richer than in 2020
The YouTuber – who repeatedly claimed as the top trader of Citibank – caused a strong response from a large part of the demand time panel on Thursday evening
Fiona Bruce looked incredibly skeptical about his claim that the 'richest richer'
The panel included Labor MP Darren Jones – who is also the main secretary of the Treasury – Conservative MP Richard Holden and Lib DEM MP Daisy Cooper, as well as Camilla Tominey, executive editor of the Daily Telegraph.
While Stevenson made his accusation, Mr. Jones shook his head and said 'no'; Mrs. Cooper pulled her eyebrows and looked down; Mrs Tominey said audibly 'no' and looked disgusting on the claim; Mr Holden rolled with his eyes.
“Wait a minute,” said a visibly irritated Fiona Bruce, who lifted her hands, while Stevenson continued to claim that the “richest are getting richer.”
“Don't include us in all this,” she said, looked skeptical.
“I don't know if you have seen the way the BBC works, but they are not exactly raising salaries now.”
Fiona Bruce is the sixth best paid star of the BBC and earns around £ 405,000 a year. She took a salary reduction in 2022 after her salary fell from around £ 410,000 to £ 395,000.
Asked what the solution is, Stevenson said: 'We must shift the tax system. We have a tax system that taxes working people 30, 40, 50, 60 percent, while people like the Duke of Westminster can inherit £ 10 billion and pay nothing.
'If you do that, wealth is sucked from the middle class. It already has the working class completely bankrupt, it will let the government go bankrupt and there will be poverty. Why do we tax more than billionaires working people? '
Mrs Bruce pointed out that different countries had withdrawn wealth tax because they 'do not provide so much income'.
Figures from analysis company New World Wealth suggest 10,800 millionaires and 12 billionaires left Great -Britain in the midst of rising wealth tax last year.
Stevenson was outside the treasury prior to the spring statement on Tuesday evening to demand taxes on the super rich.
Stevenson was a former financial trader who earned his fortune at Citibank before burning it up and withdrew to become a campaigner
He spoke on Tuesday outside the treasury (photo) to demand new wealth tax prior to the spring statement
Main secretary of the treasury Darren Jones (photo) said that Welfare did not work “as it was designed”
He then said: “There is no other way. If you do not burden the rich, their wealth will grow and it will grow and it will press your family out. '
The activist, who now runs a YouTube channel, called Garys Economics, has repeatedly claimed that he became a millionaire after he had saved Citibank money on falling interest rates, making it $ 35 million.
His claims that he became 'number one trader in the world' of Citibank, however, were disputed by former colleagues. The Financial Times reported that various former colleagues described him as 'delusions of Grandeur'.
One, Jeff Feig, said: “His claim about the most profitable trader in Citi in a year is laughable and clearly just a bizarre FIB.”
Stevenson said, in response to the reports, that he was in his comments about his performance at Citibank.
He left the banking world in 2014 after burning up and took postponed Citigroup shares of at least £ 1.5 million with them.
During the discussions about cutbacks on welfare, the chief secretary of the treasury Darren Jones said that the welfare system 'had come to a place where it did not support people in a way it was designed, “with one in eight young people who were not working or education.
Mrs Bruce challenged the Minister of Labor if it was logical to push 50,000 more children into relative poverty with benefit reductions and at the same time develop a strategy to reduce child poverty.
Jones – who has just apologized for a 'tactless' comment in which the cutbacks are compared to cutting the pocket money of a child – added: “We do everything we can to create the possibility of creating well -paid work and to help children in the process.”
The cutbacks include the freezing of the health element of universal credit for £ 97 a week to 2029/30 for existing applicants, and cutting in two for new applicants the health element of universal credit reduction in half to £ 50pw for new claimants and then frozen.
Mr. Jones was radiated by a public member with a disabled daughter, who wondered why the cutbacks were made while a wage increase of 2.8 percent was agreed by MPs in the Commons on Monday, two days before the cuts were agreed.
'You take (money) from my daughter and you put it in your pocket. That's how she sees it, “he smoked.
“Is it a bit uncomfortable, in the circumstances?” Asked Mrs. Bruce.
The spring statement included an obligation to return £ 1 billion a year from tax dodgers.
