All this complaining over the new 45p tax band is utterly pointless. Any incoming government in the next few years is going to have an absolute nightmare sorting out what we owe, what we have, what income it can rely on, and how it collects it.
I’ve long argued that on Day One, George needs to open the books and publish everything that we owe. Next, we’ll need to look at where all the money actually goes – as William Norton explained so lucidly, there will be savings we can make with no pain. Then we’ll need to decide what is and isn’t desirable to spend taxpayers’ money on. And then we’ll need to decide how to raise that money.
The way we raise that money should be fair; it should be transparent; and it should be justified. I still think that there needs to be a major reassessment of how taxes are collected, and what they are levied on. For example, it is ridiculous that such a high proportion of citizens receive benefits from the state – why not let them keep more of their money in the first place?
Setting aside the economic arguments, politically there is no way that George Osborne can pledge to abolish the 45p rate. We know that the Conservatives will be going into the election with a pledge to work towards lower taxes but frankly the scorched earth approach that Gordon Brown has adopted means that this will be incredibly difficult.
I want a responsible government that lives within its means, spends on what it has to, and gets out of what it shouldn’t be involved in. Like anyone, I don’t want to pay any more tax than I have to. But equally, I don’t want to be in a situation where the party I support allows itself to be painted as selfish. If that means we can’t go into the election promising to abolish the 45p rate – so be it.
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