Labour wakes up to the truth about tax

Until now, Labour has always seen taxation as a positive good  -  the means by which the state could redistribute wealth and effect social change.

You don't hear much of that philosophy any more.

Today, the number one complaint from Labour malcontents is no longer that public spending is too low. Suddenly, they're all telling the Government that taxes are too high.

Labour taxes are hitting everyone hard - especially the poor

Well spotted. But what a pity they didn't notice this during the years of plenty, when taxes were creeping up to feed what ex-Labour minister Denis MacShane now describes  -  with nauseating hypocrisy  -  as 'the insatiable greed of the state'.

Only now, when times are hard for the economy, have they woken up to the truth that high taxes hit everyone in society  -  and none harder than the thrifty poor.

They took the worst knock when the starting rate of income tax doubled to 20p. They also suffer most from 'green' taxes on energy, holidays and older cars.

But where were the howls of protest from Labour  -  or the Conservatives, for that matter  -  when any one of these measures was first proposed?

At last, after lying dormant for a decade, the issue of tax cuts is right back at the top of the political agenda. And the Mail says Hallelujah for that.

 Helping themselves

Caught with their fingers in the till, MPs have devised a cunning plan to avoid any future embarrassment over having to declare their expenses claims to the taxpayers who have to pick up their bills.

Outrageously, they are demanding an extra £15,000 on their salaries, while Speaker Michael Martin is seriously considering giving them an extra £23,000 a year to replace their second homes allowances  -  with no questions asked.

That would mean a 60 per cent pay rise to nearly £100,000 a year  -  at a time when policemen, nurses and teachers are asked to accept pay rises well below inflation.

They just don't get it, do they? What they propose amounts to nothing less than a reward for dishonesty.

With every self-seeking move they make to feather their own nests, MPs become even further removed from the public they are elected to serve.

 Basking in shame

What goes through the mind of Britain's highest paid civil servant, as he basks in the sunshine at his super-luxury Caribbean hotel?

Does Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier give a thought to the hardship he has caused by closing 4,600 post offices  -  and planning to shut 2,500 more?

Does he feel a pang of conscience over slashing postal services, raising stamp prices by more than a third and losing 15million letters each year?

Is it possible he regrets that under his management, the universal post service has lost money for the first time in its history  -  £100million last year?

Or does Mr Crozier simply congratulate himself on the £3million  -  including a massive £2million bonus  -  that he himself has pocketed for running his semimonopoly over the past year?

Earlier this month, BA boss Willie Walsh turned down a bonus of £700,000, after announcing profits of £883million  -  up 45 per cent. It would be 'inappropriate', he said, for him to accept any bonus after the shambolic launch of Terminal 5.

Mr Crozier should consider Mr Walsh's example of success and integrity  -  and hang his head in shame.