The mantra “tax the rich” runs deep in the Labour Party’s DNA. Wealth creators should be rewarded, not punished, but the idea of a new wealth tax is gaining growing support in Labour. A whopping 89% of party members polled by Survation voiced support for some form of a tax on the rich.

MPs and unions continue to make supportive noises about introducing such a measure as a way of getting more cash into the Treasury’s coffers as Rachel Reeves scratches around for dosh after trashing the economy since coming to power. Some MPs clearly think it would give them something to tell constituents about when they complain about cuts to the welfare state.

Other people and organisations backing the idea include Oxfam, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, Ecotricity founder Dale Vince and Gary Stevenson – a former city trader turned economic inequality activist. The amusingly titled Patriotic Millionaires UK also favour a wealth tax as part of their mission to “build a better Britain by changing the system to end extreme wealth and make those with it make their fair and proper contribution.”

While this might make a feel-good mission statement, it ignores the fact that those who have wealth or have created wealth have already been taxed on it through multiple means, including value added tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty and council tax. If Rachel Reeves were to listen to these campaigners and decide this was a clever political move to reassure her party’s core vote and get a few extra billion in, how would it work?

A wealth tax would be a one-off smash and grab raid on the total value of an individual’s assets. This could include property, land, cash, stocks and shares, businesses, valuable possessions and anything else deemed as some form of wealth. The Government would apply the tax to a person’s wealth above a certain level.

Campaigners claim that applying a 2.5% tax on assets over £10million could raise up to £36billion. While this financial quick fix might seem immediately attractive to some, would a wealth tax realistically work? History suggests not. In an excellent blog on the TaxPayers’ Alliance website by Matthew Bowles, strategic partnerships manager at the Institute of Economic Affairs, he highlights other countries that have implemented wealth taxes and not generated the vast sums that were expected.

He points to France which introduced a wealth tax under socialist President François Mitterand in 1982 which lasted until 2017. This period includes a three-year pause of the tax under the presidency of Jacques Chirac. This French levy applied to all persons with a net worth over 1.3 million euros. Despite this impacting on the wealth of many, it only contributed to just 2% of total tax receipts in its lifespan.

The ramifications also saw 60,000 millionaires quit France to live elsewhere between 2000 and 2016, which explains why Emmanuel Macron later scrapped it as part of attempts to grow the French economy and stimulate investment. Rachel Reeves would do well to remember this, should she start to consider a wealth tax as a lifeline to save her from further financial dire straits. Thousands of millionaires have already left Britain following Labour’s plans to abolish the UK’s non-dom tax regime.

The Adam Smith Institute found that 10,800 millionaires decided to go and live elsewhere last year, which is double the number from the previous year. Do we really want other wealthy folk to follow them as they feel they are being squeezed until their pips squeak? I don’t think so.

It is worth remembering that the top 1% of earners in this country contribute nearly 30% of tax collected by HMRC. More than ever, we need these people to stay in Britain and feel appreciated, not punished for their success. Aside from the solid and sound economic arguments for not further punishing the wealthy, we must also stop using the politics of envy as a way of dividing society.

We should learn from the US where financial success is rightly lauded, supported and encouraged. Advocating for a wealth tax might make for a tasty slogan at the next left-wing protest or help certain Labour MPs feel better about themselves about recent policy decisions, but it is not the quick fix they think it is. All it would do is push investors, employers and wealth creators out of this country at a time when we need them more than ever.