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I dont defend those who are breaking the law to avoid tax, far from it, but the high tax rates under which we suffer are a serious drag on our economy along with the sheer burden they create indirectly on businesses.
The waste in Government is simply huge. I remember Oliver Letwin telling me that his wife works as a lawyer in the Government's Department of Media Culture and Sport. In 1997 there were 4 lawyers in that department and by 2005 there were 17. That is a huge explosion of people delivering little or nothing in service to the public, mainly they are there to protect backs as a result of the huge surge in legislation that creates traps all over the place. That is just one small Government Department, I wonder what has happened in bigger departments, the costs of that alone must be massive.
What about private firms burdened by all the same rules and red tape? They cannot afford huge legal departments unless they are very large corporations and even then it is a cost that has to be passed on to the consumer. I bet that not one single business is fully compliant with all the rules and regulations being dictated from above, its impossible.
The truth is Government does far too much, it is far too big and lacks the competence to do what it tries to do. Government must be shrunk back to provide a much more minimalist framework of sensible rules and laws. It should stop interfering and let people get on with their lives.
People should be allowed to keep more of their own money with lower taxes to pay for the smaller State. It should simplify taxation accross the board and in so doing make it simpler to collect and therefore harder to dodge. Do that and you can booste the economy, remove a huge drag that depresses economic success and in so doing create jobs and improve incomes.
This is the best way to defeat poverty, not by the simplistic tax 'em high and pay more and more benefits.
PaulB and DT, no I do not like branding people 'working class' 'upper class' or whatever. That is divisive and there is no need to label people and keep them in pidgeon holes. We need more social mobility, something that has suffered over the last 10 years.
We need a society where someone earning a low wage can get on and have the opportunity to better themselves through their own effort and hard work. It is wrong to just accept that some people are destined to live on poor pay and benefits all their lives but that is just what our present welfare system creates. What you would call a 'working class' person should be able to become what you call a 'middle class' person. By you labelling them you are writing people off to be what they are for the rest of their lives. People can best do that if they are left to be more self reliant and to make their own decisions in life. I did it.
