Scrap this Anti-Business 50p Tax Rate

With the global economic climate still very much in meltdown, investors and entrepreneurs are looking for better deals, less regulation and more support to start innovative businesses which, ultimately, will lead to jobs and wealth creation in whichever country they choose to target. And let’s face it, with an eye-watering 50p tax rate – one of the highest in the world – that will rob you and your senior team of half your income, the UK isn’t exactly looking like the obvious choice, is it?

Brought in by Labour as an ill-considered and dangerous knee-jerk policy, the 50p tax was supposed to create ‘billions of pounds’ in revenue. In reality it appears to have brought in hundreds of millions. The real damage here is the many entrepreners no longer consider the UK to be open for business, and this perception has to change.

Although the left would have us believe that every top rate earner lives a life of corrupt luxury, we must consider the skills, employment and wealth creation these people bring to our country. In reality, many entrepreneurs work a 16-hour day, barley see their kids and although financially well off, have far from the champagne glugging lifestyle one might expect.

This morning’s press is mooting the idea of a 45p compromise – but Osborne would be a fool to accept this. The 50p tax is a tax on every man, woman and child in this country – because every businesses it puts off and every job it prevents harms us all.