Sir Keith Joseph
Averages conceal wide variations. The median annual UK income for 2019 is said to be £29,588. Yet, according to figures from HMRC, nearly half of all Working adults in the UK, pay no income tax because they earn less than £12,500 per annum, the figure where income becomes taxable.
Many of the very wealthy avoid paying UK tax by becoming 'Non Dom' or pay themselves 'dividends' instead of 'incomes' which attract less tax. In the last 40 years, people in emerging economies and the world's richest people have seen the fastest growth in income. Wages in Western economies have grown more slowly.
Before we joined the E.C. (now the E.U.) in January 1973, Britain was known as the 'sick man of Europe' because its economy lagged behind countries such as France and Germany. In June 1974, seventeen months after we joined the EU, Sir Keith Joseph said this, in a speech at Upminster:
"Compare our position today with that of our neighbours in Germany, Sweden, Holland, France. They are no more talented than we are. Yet, compared to them, we have the longest working hours, the lowest pay and the lowest production per head. We have the highest taxes and the lowest investment. We have the least prosperity, the most poor, and the lowest pensions."
Not much changes folks. And who did Sir Keith blame for all this? No, it wasn't the E.U.- he said it was all the fault of Labour and socialism. Since the onset of Thatcher and Regan, the world's richest, have seen their wealth soar into the stratosphere. That was what the Conservative revolution was all about.
According to a government report, Brexit is likely to lead to Britain becoming worse off.
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