Oh, I love Caitlin Moran

[Bleh]

and her view on paying tax. It does kind of put it in perspective.

I forgot about the Netherlands true. But the others you cite are not higher - as I said.

The point about commenting about having one of the highest tax rates in the world, is to contrast these pretty extortionate rates of tax with the level of services available. Poor pensions, creaky NHS, underfunded education system etc, Those countries with high rates of tax generally have much better services than we do.

Which leads one to think about the way in which public services are delivered, and governmental accountability. That's why it's relevant to me. I do hope governmental inefficiency will become relevant to other people before tax rates go up much further ...

I'm not convinced that higher tax does mean much better services.

It does in Belgium for health, especially the wait to see a specialist (10 days the last time I went); and they are far more into prevention than cure. A friend of mine had breast cancer and a cleaner was provided for her. They can also out-bureaucracy the UK and that is saying something!

"Those countries with high rates of tax generally have much better services than we do."

Everyone always wants to believe that other countries are doing things better! If you try living in other countries for a while, you soon find out that the grass is not universally a brighter shade of green but has brown patches and fungal infestations too, just like in Britain.

I am quite sure you would be horrified by French schools, Quattro . And the spend per child is much higher here than in the UK.

scaryteacher - as far as I remember (and I lived in Belgium for over 15 years), you have to make insurance contributions to access healthcare in Belgium. And when my cleaning lady was thrown through a window by her husband, social services were unable to provide any emergency accommodation for her and her daughter. They lived in their car. And the schools would make most Brits jaw drop.

Quattro - are you reading different tables to me?

In the link you gave, figures are as follows:
Corp tax income tax VAT
Austria 25% 21%-50% 20%
Belgium 33.99% 25-50% 21%
Denmark 25% 38-59% 25%
UK 28% 0-40% 15%

Am I missing something?

I don't have any experience of French schools any more than I have experience of UK state schools. I imagine they are both fairly similar. The cost per child in the UK varies significantly depending on the type of school, which is a kind of odd concept to get your head around.

I do have experience of French healthcare though. It's genuinely fabulous! And all for a top tier income tax rate of 43%. Here in the UK we're about to have a top tier income tax rate of 50% and our NHS is decidedly creaky.

"I imagine they are both fairly similar."

Why on earth would you imagine this, Quattro?

And French healthcare is not universally fabulous. Clinical medicine here is of a high standard; not so public healthcare.