If businesses are so great, they don't need state coddling.

The Tories seem to be ceaseless in their coddling of the private sector.

Over the weekend, Ed Balls' bombshell that Labour would bring back the 50p top rate of income tax on earnings over £150k p.a. was greeted with the sort of response that might be deemed reasonable from a wheelchair user being told they'd now be required to do without. Now Cameron is talking about ripping up green regulations which will apparently save businesses £850m a year.

If the private sector is so great at creating jobs and helping our economy, why do they need so much state assistance? 

Green regulations were brought in when much damage to our environment had already been done. Without government controls, profit-hungry companies would have continued to pollute our environment by dumping their waste wherever they like, and throwing money at councils and landowners until they allow them to buy up land, regardless of the effects on the environment, residents and other businesses.

As for re-introducing the 50p tax rate, the uproar is totally out of proportion. So far since 2008/09, the poorest in our country have been paying by far the highest price for the failings of those who dragged our economy into the red. The least that the richest 1.1% (yes, that's how many of us earn that much) can do is take some of the burden. And given that people earning £150k p.a. plus often decide their own salary - or at least, tend to be able to bargain with those who do - they could just make their salary a little higher to make up the 'shortfall'.

I'll again cite Richard Murphy on this: here is his blog from this morning on the 50p tax rate.