Budget 2009: Darling is interested in headlines, not economic recovery

The figures have now become literally unimaginable. Britain will borrow £175 billion this year, £173 billion the year after—a higher total in two years than in the entirety of the 316 years since King William introduced the national debt.

It’s hardly surprising, in the circumstances, that people snatch at the more comprehensible numbers, notably the hikes in higher rate tax. It’s a classic piece of Brownite prestigiditation. Higher levies on those earning more than £100,000 or £150,000 a year will generate little revenue. Indeed, they will probably cost more to administer fthan they raise: wealthy people, in order to avoid the new rate of income tax, will also start avoiding capital gains tax, inheritance tax and other imposts which, at present, they don’t always bother to skive, and capital will be driven overseas.