The 50p rate is designed to cause the Conservatives problems. But it has also damaged Labour. It has reinforced the adage that Labour governments always end up breaking their promises on tax. It has also shown that when the going gets tough, Labour resorts to economically destructive class warfare: the FT and all those financiers who were so keen to bankroll Labour back in the day should remember that. But perhaps the greatest damage has been done by the fact that it has shown the commentariat that Labour is fundamentally unserious in its approach to dealing with the appalling state of the public finances.
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