The much-whined-about UK budget reflects the accumulated debris of a 50-year-old mindset that doesn’t work anymore. The abysmal state of the NHS, the degradation of the high streets, and the inexcusable sewer outfalls are all basically the same thing. Let’s ignore 8 years of corruption, incompetence, stupidity, and illiteracy in basic government operations and focus on the good side.

The UK is in a quite unnecessary deep hole of its own making, yet again. Brexit was a magnum bullet in the heart of UK revenue. Leaving the EU also left a good working system and added a catastrophically unmanageable dimension to UK trade.

That’s the bottom line. A lack of revenue and a quite obscene level of smug tax evasion don’t make a good mix. It’s a culture of lack of money and non-payment.

The theory that it’s OK because a pack of pathetic old Etonian idiots feel a bit better about themselves doesn’t translate into billions of pounds of lost money. I’ve been calling it “Dunkirk in reverse” for years. Seems I was right.

There’s a much bigger and far more dangerous issue here that’s almost unquantifiable. It’s not about someone having a few less luxury yachts for breakfast. It’s about the incredibly shabby state of public finances in the US, UK, and other countries.

If you make such a mess of revenue for such a long time, higher taxes are the only way out. Countries can’t run at a loss forever. Debts pile up, and the creditors expect those debts to be paid.

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