Labour’s manifesto steals from the rich – and gives it back to the wealthy

The consequence of last week’s leak of a draft Labour manifesto is that all eyes today have fallen on what was missing from the draft: the costings.

There is a very big assumption in Labour’s figures: that when you raise taxes you get all the extra revenue that you would expect to receive. The reality, of course, is that when you raise taxes you change people’s behaviour which might lead to them paying less tax. With a 45 per cent income tax levy above £80,000 and a 50 per cent rate over £123,000 higher rate taxpayers would have a greater incentive to find some way of avoiding tax – either by converting income into capital gains, shovelling more into their pensions – or by scarpering abroad. It is therefore rash to assume that these tax measures will bring in an extra £6.4 billion.

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Julie Burchill

I am facing a future in a wheelchair

Even more doubtful is whether jacking up corporation tax would bring in an eyebrow-raising extra £19.4