I can only speak for the UK but since the 2009 banking crisis the poor have gotten poorer and the rich have gotten richer. Meanwhile the press have very successfully focused attention on to migrants.
A lot of people truly believe that they are poor, not because the richest are picking their pockets, but because the poorest are.
It was introduced under the Tories but massively expanded by new labour. The article says that the money won’t be syphoned off by investors and shareholders but I’m extremely sceptical. The only solution is nationalisation.