The Daily Mirror has missed the real scandal: the tax on the low-paid is 84pc, not 36pc

Today’s Daily Mirror has exposed half a scandal: that the tax changes under this government have hit the poor harder that the rich. That’s what you get when you jack up VAT: it hits everyone, but will hit the poor proportionally harder. But this year, the lower-paid half of British workers will be asked for less than 10pc of all income tax collected, the lowest proportion ever. The richest 1pc will contribute almost 30pc, the highest in recorded history. Osborne is actually squeezing the rich harder than any Labour Chancellor ever did (that’s what you get when you cut the top rate of tax). The ONS yesterday published figures suggesting that the top 20pc pay 35pc of their income in tax, and the poorest 20pc pay 36pc, when all taxes etc is considered. That tiny difference is enough for it to justify a cover story.

But here is the real scandal.