Rising Taxes

This is a startling report-

The level of taxation in Britain is about to reach- and then pass- the all time highest level. Under Gordon Brown's Chancellorship taxation now brings in a total of £490 billion a year; that's up £271 billion from when he took office. That works out as an average of £9,000 per household.

A basic rate taxpayer now pays £48.50 tax on every £100 earned. For the higher tax rate the figure is £57.10.

It comes at a time when the NHS is in desperate straits- laying off staff and cancelling operations. It seems that the Labour policy of throwing money at institutions in the hope of improving them hasn't yet worked. Perhaps Brown will continue his tactic just in case it does work. No point in streamlining and increasing efficiency- not when they can add layer after layer of bureaucrats instead of hiring more nurses, doctors and making more beds available.

Where all of this extra money is going is a mystery- our armed forces are gutted year after year, the police seem incapable of doing anything about rising crime levels, the health service is failing, schools are being closed down and the price of living is getting increasingly out of hand.

Perhaps if MPs weren't given allowances to pay for almost all of their bills on top of their inflated wages (and if some of them didn't claim an extra £72,000 on top of that) we would have a little extra cash for the necessities.