November 2010
Fraser Nelson’s attack on 50p tax rate is full of holes
Writing in the Spectator, Fraser Nelson claims that the 50p tax rate, along with other high profile taxes on the wealthy, actually reduces tax revenue from the top percentile. The major piece of evidence he draws on is the table below. Showing the tax liability through income tax shouldered by various deciles of the tax base, he argues that as you reduce the top rate of tax, you actually collect more revenue.
We need to move on from the clichés and misunderstandings about China
The coverage of David Cameron’s visit to Beijing has brought the usual litany of clichés and misunderstandings about China, drawing unabashedly on a fine tradition of western depictions of the Oriental “other”. China is unfailingly presented as a totalitarian state, headed by inscrutable politicians with “plastic smiles”. Its population is an undifferentiated mass, herded into conformity by severe limitations imposed on personal freedom.
Will the “greenest government ever” get the rainforest off our plates?
Tomorrow the House of Commons will debate a new law to make the UK’s meat and dairy production more sustainable, but it is still unclear whether or not the self-styled "greenest government ever" is going to back it. South American rainforests and wildlife rich grasslands are being trashed to graze animals for export to the UK and Europe - and to grow soy to feed our factory farms. This problem is being largely ignored by the Government.
Cost of Trident delay inevitable result of the compromise of coalition
Defence secretary Liam Fox’s admission that the Trident delay announced in last month’s Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) will cost up to £1.4 billion attracted fresh criticism of the government’s handling of the issue. John Woodcock, the Labour MP for Barrow - where the submarines are built - claimed the coalition was “playing politics with Britain's national security” by delaying the decision on Trident renewal for five years so as to avoid a Liberal Democrat revolt on the issue.
Standards or structures?
Our guest writer is Kimberley Trewhitt, a Researcher at the Reform think tank The debate has long raged over “standards […]
Simplification, sanctions and cuts won’t create jobs
Over the last few days the coalition has been keen to sell Universal Credit as the answer to all the labour market's problems. After the deepest recession in decades, they are confident they can reduce worklessness by 300,000 jobs (a 'conservative' estimate), reduce child and working age poverty, reduce working-age welfare expenditure by £18 billion and make everyone in work better off, simply by reforming the welfare system.