Don't we pay too much tax?

I understand that many people do not like paying their taxes. I am also aware that many people share my views that taxation policy is an important part of creating a decent caring society.

I think in general we still do pay too little and we get the services we deserve as a consequence. We are amongst the lowest taxed in Europe, yet as an electorate we compare our services with the best in Europe. We get what we pay for and I have raised this issue in the House on a number of occasions. We pay American levels of taxation and expect Scandanavian levels of public service. I believe that we would have another £40bn a year to spend on public services if we taxed at the European average. Just think what we could do with that. (the 10 year rail plan has £33bn of public spending over 10 years!)

Last updated March 2003

But if we are paying extra tax where are the improvements?

It is important to put all of this into a proper context. We need to understand the state of our publlic finances in 1997, the level of taxation in the economy, and the massive under-investment we have made in our public services for the last 50 years.