I was already a fan, for Phantom and Evita, but now I really like this guy. Andrew Lloyd Webber recently published this brilliant op ed at Mail Online:
The Last Thing This Country Needs is a Pirate Raid on the Wealth Creators Who Still Dare Navigate Our Stormy Waters (…And don’t lynch me as a rich b*****d flying a kite for his own cause–I really fear an exodus of talent).
Webber implores the government, and people, of Britain not to rage a “pirate raid” on the country’s wealth creators. It’s along the same vein as my “Joe the Dentist” piece…but shorter and styled as a passionate plea, and I must say it is a must read. I include this exert as bait to get you to follow the link and read the rest, and you’ll be glad you did…
“Last Thursday I met with a thirtysomething guy. I absolutely depend on him in a highly technical area of theatrical production. For legal reasons he has to employ himself through his own company. Under the new tax regime, he will have to pay 13.3 per cent to employ himself before he pays himself anything. And then he will have to pay 51.5 per cent on what’s left.
“This is a guy at the cutting edge of his profession who works all over the world. He is in demand in every major territory where entertainment is produced. He has a young wife and two children. Last Thursday he told me that he and his wife had decided that the UK was no longer where they wanted to live.
“His wife thinks the State education system is inadequate. And she fears that a bankrupt Britain will increasingly be a worse place in which to live as the horror of our present financial mess hits us all in the solar plexus.
“He says that he is young enough to set up shop somewhere else. The new tax rates were the final straw. These talented young people know they will make it impossible for them to educate their kids privately in the UK.
“So Britain plc loses not just the 40 per cent he would have paid in personal taxes under the old regime – plus NI and everything else – but… Come on, I don’t need to explain the knock-on effect. It’s obviously huge and immensely damaging – that’s why I am writing this article quickly and probably with too much passion.”
What is it with governments enacting such disastrous socialist policies and so many many people supporting them in it? Sure you could call it self interest, but that only goes so far. Anyone with half a brain…and who is willing to think through the inevitable consequences of such policies, should realize that in the end it’s bad for them too! What really amazes me is that with Britain and most of Europe already ahead of us in the socialism scheme, that more people in this country don’t learn better from their mistakes. Why do so many insist on making mistakes themselves, rather than simply learning from others? I will never understand this phenomenon, as it relates to history and global politics or to the personal lives of individual people.
Really informative blog article. Will read on…