The Spectator’s Notes | 10 March 2012

Everyone seems very bored with the coalition, but if you look at the pre-Budget discussions, might it not be working quite well? It is surely a good thing that most senior Liberals now admit that the 50 per cent top rate of income tax is not necessarily a great idea, and that most senior Conservatives now begin to recognise that the vast amount of wealth tied up in property should not be able to avoid tax as much as it does. The Lib Dems have to confront the reality that high taxes encourage avoidance, drive away talent and, eventually, reduce revenue. The Tories have to focus on the fact that income taxes are shockingly high for the poor and that houses and land are not made to work for their owners’ living as they should. These dawning perceptions could be the basis of a constructive dialogue. Traditionally, the Budget has been treated as a box of tricks which no one but the magician (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) may inspect.