Tax rises should target the rich

With the taxation strategy in mind, imagine a scenario where you had a choice of two societies you could live in.

In one, the people paid no tax at all, in return for which the government provided no services at all – i.e. there was no government. In the other, the people turned over 100% of their wealth to the government in return for which the government provided for all of their needs.

Which would you choose? I think that generally we'd find that the 'haves' would choose the first one and the 'have nots' the second. I wouldn't recommend either scenario but the 'ultimate extremes' method provides a useful guide as to how the States should weight their strategy.

If we have a democracy then the States should establish, or be told (which is why it is important for all members of the electorate to lobby deputies), where there are more 'haves' or 'have nots' on the electoral register – and vote accordingly.

If we are going to have high taxes, let's hope that the number of taxes and rates is kept to a minimum. The 'user pays' philosophy not only most affects the less well off, it also creates so many different taxes and rates that a whole industry of expensive government administration and bureaucracy is created with it.

Hopefully the recent BBC documentary 'The Super-Rich and Us' has finally buried the argument that low taxes on the rich generates a trickle-down effect which benefits us all. This simply has not worked where it has been practised for any length of time and now in Britain and other nations which have gone down this road, the rich/poor divide is wider than ever, and the middle class is disappearing and being forced to rent rather than own property. Locals are being forced to leave not only country villages but towns and areas of cities where their families have lived for generations. Often properties are being bought up by foreign investors who spend little time in the UK.

I would like to see some sort of policy which involved high taxes for the wealthy with tax breaks only being given to those who can demonstrate that they have created jobs for those who are already based here in the long term.

The documentary stated that 85 people now own the same as half of the world's population. It is no coincidence that while we are being fed material about terror threats and hysteria about hate gatherings etc., in order to justify more powers to and the militarisation of the police, the police are in reality gearing up for riots and civil unrest.

Whatever happens, I don't expect, either now or in the future, the sort of attitude from our deputies that was displayed in the documentary, where someone pointed out to their MP that they could no longer afford to live in their home town and were met with: 'If you can't afford to, then you can't afford to – what do you expect me to do about it?'

MATT WATERMAN,

Flat 2,

3, Burnt Lane,

St Peter Port,

GY1 1HL.