London Evening Standard/London
George Osborne yesterday faced overwhelming public opposition to any cut in the 45p tax charged to top earners in this week’s Budget.
An exclusive YouGov poll of Londoners for the Evening Standard found that two-thirds think the highest tax band charged to those earning over £150,000 a year should either stay the same or be hiked to 50p. But only 21% agreed with senior Conservative MPs and Boris Johnson, who are lobbying for it to be slashed to 40p.
The pressure on Osborne increased when the mayor of London yesterday repeated his call for the top band to be scrapped to create “an even more competitive tax rate ... for the millions who might be encouraged to work harder, produce more and therefore fill higher the tithe barn of the exchequer.”
Johnson went on: “Again, there are plenty who think this would be a good idea. Nigel Lawson has recently argued that the top rate should go back down to 40p. I am among them.”
Former Tory Cabinet minister John Redwood said Osborne’s controversial decision to cut the top rate from 50p to 45p had proven that tax revenues would go up if the rates were cut. He said: “So it makes sense; if you want to tax the rich more, that is the way to do it.”
But the YouGov research revealed barely a fifth of the public would agree, including only 30% of people who voted Conservative in May.
Some 30% thought the rate should stay at 45p, including 41% of Conservatives.
The option of raising it back to 50p was the most popular, with 36% backing it. But only 21% of Conservatives agreed with it, compared with 50% of Labour supporters.
A rise to 50p was more strongly backed by men than women, and was more popular among voters over 40.
Boris Johnson: lobbying for rate cut
