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UK's situation is akin to someone who used to be rich and but that wealth has been steadily eroded. But that person still insists on having the same standard of living.

There is a generation of Brits who do not know what true sustained shortage is or what rationing is. They have never experienced blackouts or lawlessness. (What is being experienced right now is just a trailer)

So there are only two options really:

1. Insist on maintaining the standard of living

2. Willfully accept to lower the standard of living

Brits want (1) but the govt doesn't have the money and yet they don't want to pay for it.

This results into govt looking for every opportunity to tax. This results into passionate discussions on whether this is fair or not.

These debates even though understandable at times loses the sight of fact that this is a result of choice (1).

As for taxes, the govt will squeeze anything which resembles a pot of money which was untouched so far. Also the expenses (due to choosing (1)) are going to rise every year.

What will be left for the govt to tax next year or 5 years from now? The govt will run out of things to tax eventually. This is clearly not sustainable.

I think also the law of averages is catching up with Brits i.e. after so many generations (since the colonial era) there will be come a few generations which will be worse off.

__What is the way forward?__

This is not a solution to the problems but to accept the hard reality that there are going to be few generations of people who will have to make peace with a lower standard of living, work hard without getting much in return, so that their grand children will enjoy a much better life.

In other words, the current generation (and maybe next) has to swallow the hard pill.

These sacrifices on families come in multiple forms like:

1. Low wages, increased work hours

2. Prepare to go abroad for work to earn a little extra, just like skilled migrants from less developed countries do.

3. Make the best with what you have

4. Living within means.

5. Become less materialistic

6. Prepared to do work which Brits did not like and passed on to the immigrants

7. Pay for healthcare

8. Substantial reduction in benefit amounts.

9. Everyone in family has to work

(This does not talk about what govt should do, which should be a different post)

1. The non-dom tax was the stupidest tax I've ever heard of. Somehow the owner of the Daily Mail, Lord Rothermere, all sorts seemed to be able to claim non-dominant status, and they were going home shortly to whoever that was. Meanwhile, anyone who moved to the UK from abroad would no doubt have found out on arrival at a low rate that they didn't have to pay tax on their overseas money. They would have shrugged their shoulders, broken into a smile, and moved on.

However far and away the worst part of it was: that person was not subject to UK tax for all of their non-UK investments. Now, only a complete moron would make any UK investments. So their entire contribution was their Mayfair lunch bills and the maids they hired. That had to go, and they (nothing wrong with them individually of course) are no loss.

CGT - it was tomfoolery having it at 10%. Lowest by far amongst industrialised countries (well before the rich stopped having to pay tax at all in US). May as someone lucky enough to start a business and take it to sale, we spoke once about tax on day 1, and then again a year before the end. The idea of embarking on an incredibly ambitious idea, and then handicapping yourself to save 8% on CGT were the millions to come... is what no founders have ever done. Squealing from the hundred millionaires about being $10 million lighter in theory for capital gains. It's a narrow cane was embarrassing. I remember one point out they'd worked on weekends to make this money...

Finally, may I say your examples for international competition are not very fulsome and not very fair. Dubai is a complete red herring of course. Good luck getting that Portuguese visa now. Ireland, you've just picked the one element of their tax code that is lower.

Oh one more. CGT tax rises didn't come in until oct 24, after your 14% decline. Reason they went down is the same reason they always go down - asset prices were down.