I can’t afford to pay it, says man with $50m home.
Former England footballer Sol Campbell has become the latest monied public figure to wade into battle over Labour's proposed "mansion tax" in Britain, claiming it is a levy on aspiration which he cannot afford to pay.
The one-time Premiership defender, whose salary while playing was reportedly 5 million ($10 million) a year, last month put his six-bedroom home in London's Chelsea on the market for 25 million ($50 million).
Campbell, 40, who has been building a property portfolio since leaving football, and who owns a country house in Northumberland, follows singer Myleene Klass and the comedian Griff Rhys Jones in criticising Labour's flagship plans for a tax on properties worth 2 million or more if elected next May. Broadcaster and Labour supporter Lord Bragg has also denounced the plan, warning the party would be "wiped out" in Hampstead, the leafy bastion of London liberalism. Broadcaster Bill Oddie tweeted that he would not be voting Labour "this time".
Under the plan announced by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, the levy is expected to raise 1.2 billion ring-fenced for spending on the NHS. The party insists the average bill will be about 3000 for a 2 million property.
