Top rate of tax is ‘unlikely’ to be axed

The 50p top rate of tax “certainly looks” as if it is here to stay, London Mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday.

He said it was “unlikely” to be axed in the current climate, but warned that in the long term the City must be able to compete internationally.

Earlier this month, David Cameron said he still regarded the rate, introduced by Labour in 2010, as a “temporary” measure. Asked if the 50 per cent rate was “here to stay”, he said: “It certainly looks that way, we have got to be realistic about that.

“All my job is to do is to argue that in the long term you can’t hope for London, a great international market city, to compete with other capitals if we have tax rates significantly higher than our major competitors, and that’s a point that I think it’s my duty to make.”