Darling, what have you done??

First of all, let me say that I don't earn £150k per year. Nowhere near it, as it happens. I never did and I never will. And even if I did.... I would be on a Thai beach with a cold coconut in my hands rather than here, talking rubbish 24/7.
Therefore the recent introduction of the 50% tax rate on personal earnngs above £150k doesn't even remotely hit me in the pocket.... but it still stinks big time.
It is probably one of the worst (political) statements that that buffoon Darling (only a clown could have grey hair and black eyebrows) could ever make - it stinks of Old Labour, plain and simple.

This 50% tax rate may win Labour a few votes on the far left but it will lose them many more votes across the entire political spectrum. I am positively sure that only a tiny, tiny minority of the people earning over 150k are to blame for the mess that we are in. So why do we want to make them pay even more taxes? If this is Labour's main tool to plug the hole in the public finances then The Deadly Duo (Darling & Brown) are even more detached from reality than I thought. This tax hike will drive more people to a) move abroad if they can; or b) employ a cunning accountant to find some tax-efficient loopholes and avoid paying taxes altogether. And even if all the people earning over 150k were to stay in the UK and pay their taxes, I very much doubt that the money raised in this way would make a significant impact.

So what was Darling's goal in this Budget? Plugging the hole or punishing the rich for the sake of it?? If it was the former - but I have some grave doubts about it - then why didn't he make some serious plans about restructuring Northern Rock and all the other financial institutions that they nationalised and make them profitable, or even VERY profitable (if that doesn't cause any offence to the lefties in his party)? Rather than flogging them at a loss to your chums like Richard Branson, make these banks earn their profits so that they can pay healthy dividends to the main (or sole) shareholder, ie. the Treasury. In this way you can raise much more money, without alienating honest taxpayers.
If it was the former, then I have some news for you Darling. Enjoy the limelight that this Budget has brought to you bacause you will not be in the same position again for a long, long time.