YAWNING inequality and struggling public services have made the case for a wealth tax “irrefutable,” the STUC told MSPs today.

Scotland’s largest trade union body made the call ahead of a Scottish government debate on Wealth Taxation for Public Services at Holyrood, at which Deputy First Minister and finance secretary Jenny Gilruth confirmed that “work is underway to introduce a private jet tax and a mansion tax.”

But the government has yet to drop plans to axe 18,000 jobs over the next five years.

Fresh from its own analysis last month, which pointed to a “grotesque” wealth gap which has handed Scotland’s 10 richest families a combined fortune of over £23 billion, the STUC said that a “modest 2 per cent” tax on their wealth alone could net £500 million a year — enough to fund 11,600 teachers, 12,900 nurses, 13,500 firefighters, or 17,000 home care workers.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “The case for better wealth taxation in Scotland has become irrefutable. 

“For too long, wealth, assets and resources have been concentrated in the hands of a select few, while public services have been starved of vital funding.

“Since the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament, STUC research has shown that the wealth of Scotland’s richest individuals has grown by an extraordinary 375 per cent, outstripping workers’ wages sixfold.”

Demanding more than mere “political window dressing,” she added: “Actions speak louder than words and, with a £4.7bn gap in the public finances looming, we need concrete steps to redistribute wealth across the country.

“Politicians must seize the initiative and back the growing calls for wealth taxes in Scotland. That must start with a full revaluation of land and property.”