Leftist fantasies and hard economic facts

LISTENING to Jeremy Corbyn and his allies, voters might think Britain is a land of vast wealth inequalities, with a Government interested only in ‘tax cuts for the rich’.

They might also believe that if only the Tories were more caring, they could easily raise billions to spend on underpaid public sector workers and others in need. The facts tell a different story.

True, a tiny minority, mostly in the City, are paid colossal salaries. As the Mail has long argued, this is socially divisive and morally unjustifiable.

But overall, the earnings gap between rich and poor has shrunk every year under the Tories. Indeed, Britain now has the third most equal income distribution in the developed world.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says the tax burden in the UK is at its highest for 30 years, with an increasing proportion borne by the richest 1 per cent, who pay 27 per cent of all income tax.

Significantly, charts show this figure rising almost every year – except when Labour increased the top rate from 40 to 50 per cent. Then, the amount raised fell, rising again only after George Osborne brought the rate down to 45 per cent.

In other words, Mr Corbyn’s plan to raise the top rate would reduce revenues, while hammering companies would inevitably crush growth and drive jobs abroad.

In contrast, the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax have helped achieve the lowest unemployment rate since the early 1970s.

As for the pay gap between the public and private sectors, the IFS finds even after years of ‘austerity’, state employees are still some 13 per cent better off.

Which brings us to the biggest Labour lie – the claim that a bottomless pit of money can be found to finance every pipe dream Mr Corbyn blurts out.

The nation’s debt is approaching £2trillion, while agencies warn our credit rating is under threat, raising the spectre of growth-crushing borrowing costs if we fail to control the deficit.

Can voters really be so gullible as to fall for the hard Left’s fantasies – and destroy all hope for our children and grandchildren?