The 50p tax rate is a small price to pay for the privilege of being able to live and work in our society

Alan Manning looks at arguments against restoring the 50p tax rate for those earning more than £150,000 a year and finds them lacking. One of the biggest real problems is that the tendency of the 1% to resent the government taking what is seen as ‘their’ money also leads them to take steps to minimise their tax liability, threatening to make the revenue raised trivial and risking their reputation as ‘wealth creators’.