Help London to compete by cutting 50p tax pleads Boris

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The Mayor renewed his campaign for the rate to be scrapped, saying it made Britain more expensive for executives than most rival countries.

The tax, which hits people earning £150,000 or more a year, was "not really raking in huge sums", he said.

And he warned: "When you're a big corporation and are thinking where to locate it for tax purposes, will you come to London? Or will you go to Zurich or Dubai? We can't endlessly compete if our top rate of tax is much higher. We are now above not just the US and Japan but France and Germany too. That will start to tell."

The Standard this week revealed the Chancellor may announce he will scrap the tax in next spring's Budget. George Osborne awaits a Revenue & Customs study into whether it brings in much more than it costs.

Analysts fear it costs the Exchequer as much as it raises, because some top-earners take on less work once they see half their pay taken in tax.