BBC Question Time host Fiona Bruce took issue with former city trader Gary Stevenson after he suggested that she was likely richer than she was before Covid.
Stevenson, a former city trader who has grown into a popular Youtuber with his takes on economics and now has more than 1.1 million subscribers, made the case for the wealthiest in society to pay more as he appeared on the BBC show on Thursday.
After Labour made headlines with £4.8 billion annual cuts to disability benefits while avoiding raising taxes – causing concern within their own party ranks and sparking discussion about a wealth tax – Question Time asked: “Who should plug the deficit, benefit claimants or billionaires”?
After outlining his background as a trader for Citibank, Stevenson told the audience: Does anyone know what the total government deficit is since the beginning of Covid?
“It's £1 trillion pounds now, which is £20,000 for every single adult in the country. So if every single one of you is not £20,000 cash richer, someone else has your money.”
He went on: “Does anyone know who has that £1 trillion? It is the richest people in the country. It is the richest people in the country.
“Now I'm going to ask you a question. If we pause the economy and give £1 trillion, £20,000 for every adult in this room and the rest of the country to the richest people in the country and then unpause the economy, what do you think will happen to living standards for ordinary people?
“They will collapse. This is a problem of growing wealth inequality, the extremely rapid growth of wealth of the richest people in the country.
“The average billionaire increased their wealth by £630 million in the first year alone of Covid …
“Who here is £20,000 cash richer than before Covid? I’ll tell you who probably is, every single person on this panel.”
Stevenson gestured to the other Question Time panellists, who included Labour’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones MP, Tory shadow Cabinet office minister Richard Holden, the LibDem deputy leader Daisy Cooper MP, and right-wing Telegraph columnist Camilla Tominey.
Jones could be seen to shake his head as Stevenson claimed he had gotten £20,000 richer since Covid. Like other MPs, his salary has risen every year, going from £81,932 per annum in April 2020 to £93,904 this year.
Furthermore, as a Cabinet minister since July 2024, Jones takes an additional wage of £67,505 per year, for a total of around £160,000.
BBC host Bruce also took issue with Stevenson’s claim that the panellists had gotten richer, saying: “Hang on, don't include us in all this.
“I don't know if you've seen the way the BBC works, but they're not exactly raising salaries by that much.”
According to BBC figures for 2023/2024, Bruce is paid £405,000-£409,000 per year.
This is an increase from her 2022/2023 wage of £395,000-£399,999 – though equal to her 2020/2021 wage.
That was a major jump from 2018/2019, when she was paid £255,000-£259,999, itself a significant jump from her 2017/2018 pay, which was £180,000-£189,999.
