Vocal Voices

Former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has warned that taxes will need to go up across the board to balance the books. He said that "it is time to front up" with the public about the difficulties the country is facing.

It is refreshing to hear someone telling the truth for a change, rather than the fantasy economics we get from government and the media.

Rises have looked inevitable following the losses and largesse during Covid; the only other option is massive cuts in government spending and services. Quantitative easing has also got to stop.

I have been expecting one or both options for some time. They are tough choices and will not be popular, but they will have to be made and better sooner than later. We will all be hit one way or the other.

Absolutely. This has been coming for years for various reasons and Covid has brought it to a head.
I've been advocating a rise in higher rate tax for some time now, but I really do think that the basic rate will need to be hiked as well. I don't know the numbers, but possibly 2%?
Temper the effect on the lower-paid by raising the starting threshold to say £15,000.

To my mind, it only serves to confirm that Truss and Kwarteng were off their respective trollies.

Maybe it would have been better to front up and tell the truth in 2020/21 when the money taps were opened without regard to cost to the taxpayers. When Labour was demanding even more cash to give away.

But no, now that it is working its way through the system is time to talk about raising taxes.

Wimps the lot of them.