Oh noes, whatever are we to do? Angelina Jolie might be put off from moving Brad and the kids to London. Why? Because of the mansion tax. I’m sure some Tories are happy that Jolie has, as we used to say in Trot circles, objectively lined up with their opposition to the tax. I don’t know how closely she follows British politics. I’m almost certain she’s never cast her beadies across this here blog. And I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt too. She’s reportedly eyed up a £25m pad, so stretching to £250/month or whatever it will be for ludicrously overpriced celebrity cribs will hardly break the bank.
Like Ed Miliband’s set to with Myleene Klass, I doubt many people will feel a pang of sympathy for well-heeled celebs moaning about taxes. Especially when Klass herself blows a cool £80k a month on rent. If the Tories want to recruit celebs to their cause, they’re more than welcome to do so. Continue reading
So President Hollande is increasing taxes on the super-rich, banks and big businesses this year by €7.2bn, about £5.7bn, and also making those with more than €1.3m pay a one-off levy this year. It is wildly popular with the French electorate, with three-quarters approving the squeeze on the rich, including a majority of right-wingers. In Britain by contrast there is no wealth tax, a mansion tax on houses worth more than £2m has been blocked, capital gains tax is at 28% far short of the 40% rate at which Thatcher left it, and the 50% income tax rate has been cut to 45%. 