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Gary Lineker has been told to 'put his money where his mouth is' and 'write a cheque to the Treasury' if he wants to pay more tax.

The England footballer turned TV commentator has joined more than 100 wealthy individuals clamouring to give the Government more of their money.

He has added his name to a letter to Andy Burnham organised by a group called Patriotic Millionaires UK that states: 'We want you to tax us. We can afford it.'

Other signatories include musician Brian Eno, film director Richard Curtis and left-wing economist Gary Stevenson.

But the letter has been dismissed as 'virtue signalling' – and sparked calls for Mr Lineker to pay extra tax voluntarily if he is so keen to hand over more of his money.

A senior Treasury minister noted 'there is a link' on the government website gov.uk that spells out how people to pay more tax if they want to.

Virtue signalling: Gary Lineker, whose wealth is estimated at £30million, says he wants to pay more tax

Kemi Badenoch said there was 'nothing stopping' Mr Lineker from writing a cheque to the Treasury.

But she warned that attempting to levy more taxes on wealthy investors risked damaging the wider economy.

Speaking at a press conference in London, she said: 'On Gary Lineker, he's very welcome to pay more tax. He can write a cheque to the Treasury. No one's stopping him.

'But right now, we are seeing the people who create jobs leaving the country. If we keep taxing the people who create the jobs, who generate the growth, we're not going to have any taxes at all.

'So, Gary Lineker can increase whatever he wants to pay. What I want to do is increase our standard of living. Tax rises do not increase our standard of living. Backing business so that they can create jobs and create growth will increase our standard of living, and that's how you deal with the cost of living.'

Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'If Gary Lineker is so desperate to pay more tax, he can write a cheque to the Treasury today and put his money where his mouth is.'

'Ordinary taxpayers should not be dragged into another damaging wealth tax just because a handful of virtue-signalling celebrities want applause for offering up other people's money.

'Britain needs entrepreneurs, investment and jobs, not a tax raid that would drive wealth out of the country and leave working families picking up the bill.'

The gov.uk website cited by Chief secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds explains that it 'gives guidance to members of the public or private businesses who may wish to make a voluntary contribution to HM Government'.

This can be done via a bank transfer to the Treasury to help fund public spending, or to the Debt Management Office 'specifically for the purpose of reducing the national debt'.

Ms Reynolds said: 'I welcome the fact that people of good means are saying that they want to pay more. They can pay more. There is a link on gov.uk.'

Reform UK shadow chancellor Robert Jenrick said: 'If Gary Lineker and co want to pay more, they should write a cheque to the Treasury today – no one's stopping them.'

Tory MP Louie French said: 'Virtue signallers assemble to bemoan they're not paying enough tax, which they could pay more voluntarily but don't. Whilst in the real world wealth continues to flee Britain's socialist Government.'

Julian Jessop, economics fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said voluntary donations to the government were a bad idea.

'The additional revenues would just go into one big government pot and there is no guarantee that it would be well spent,' he said.

'If rich people really want to be patriotic it makes more sense to donate directly to good causes, as many already do.

'As it stands, this campaign is just an exercise in virtue signalling, while wasting everybody's time with badly thought-out proposals that would inevitably backfire.

'I am sure these individuals know that they can choose to pay more tax if they want to, but the point of the campaign is to encourage the government to force other relatively wealthy people to pay more as well.'

Adam Craggs, a partner and head of tax at law firm RPC, said: 'If an individual taxpayer wishes to pay more tax than is lawfully required from them it is always open to them to make a voluntary contribution to the UK government.

'There is therefore no need for such taxpayers to campaign for a general increase in taxes or for the introduction of a wealth tax – the mechanism already exists for them to contribute a greater amount to the Exchequer.'

Mr Lineker, 65, is estimated to be worth £30million after setting up one of Britain's most successful podcast companies.

He said: 'Paying your fair share is a basic British value, but so many ordinary people are already paying more than they can afford. Our richest people can do more and most want to.

'To live up to our national values our new government must raise taxes on extreme levels of wealth for a fairer, better, more hopeful Britain.'

The letter to Mr Burnham from Patriotic Millionaires UK said 'extreme wealth sitting idle in the hands of a few' should be used to reduce inequality and improve public services and concludes: 'It's time to tax us, the super rich.'

It does not specify a particular policy but there have long been calls on the left, including from former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, for an annual levy on the assets of the super-rich.

Just this week academics said that a 2 per cent charge on those with more than £100million in the bank would raise £10billion a year.

Mr Burnham himself was asked by Mr Lineker last week if he was considering imposing a wealth tax.

He replied that he was 'not going rule things out right now' but added: 'I do believe we need a greater sense of fairness.'

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