Most voters want to see taxes go up so the government can increase spending on public services, according to a major new study.
The British Social Attitudes survey found that 52 per cent believe people should give more of their pay packet to the Treasury in order to fund schools, the health service and welfare.
Of those, 61 per cent were Labour voters and 46 per cent backed the Tories.
The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng prepares to implement Liz Truss’s plan to bring down taxes in order to boost economic growth.
According to the survey, which was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), 49 per cent of voters believe the government should redistribute income from the better off to those on lower incomes.
And two-thirds - 67 per cent - now agree that ordinary working people do not get their fair share of the nation’s wealth, up from 57 per cent in 2019.
The findings are at odds with comments by Truss, who has insisted that handing wealthy voters tax breaks is “fair”.
However, the new prime minister has said she is willing to make “unpopular” decisions in order to grow the economy.
Asked by the BBC if she was happy to see the rich get richer, she said: “If that means taking difficult decisions, which are going to help Britain become more competitive, help Britain become more attractive, help more investment flow into our country, yes, I’m absolutely prepared to take those decisions.”
Gillian Prior, deputy chief executive at NatCen, said: “Our annual survey suggests the public faces the cost of living crisis with as much appetite for increased government spending as it had during the pandemic.
“Recognition of inequalities in Britain is at a level not seen since the 1990s, with people more willing than they were a decade ago for government to redistribute income from the better off to the less well off.”
Elsewhere in the survey, it was revealed that support for Scottish independence has more than doubled in the past decade - from 23 per cent to 52 per cent.
And for the first time, more than half of voters support ditching first past the post for proportional representation as the way to elect MPs.