Responding to a letter to the Daily Telegraph today (Thursday) calling on the Chancellor to scrap the 50p tax rate in the Budget, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"It's not surprising to learn that rich people want to pay less tax. What is worrying is that many in government are encouraging them to confuse their own interests with those of the country as a whole.
"The Chancellor will probably reject their special pleading in this year's budget, but it is clear that his long-term priority is cutting tax for the rich rather than restoring the services he has cut or investing in jobs for the young unemployed.
"Any Chancellor who really thinks we should all be in this together should start by cracking down on the tax dodges used by big companies and the super-rich to avoid paying their fair share of tax.
"Next he should ask them to pay a fairer share in putting right the economic mess caused by the banking crash. This should include ending tax breaks for boardroom size pensions and closing the loopholes that allow pay that should face income tax to be turned into low-tax capital gains or profits from one person companies."
