NEW: Is Britain really a high tax country?. Our collective tax bill is at its highest share of GDP since the 1940s. But actually, the tax and NI paid by the average worker are at their lowest in decades. What’s going on?. 1/7

Britain’s cheap groceries used to be the envy of Europe; not anymore. This week’s column is on food inflation .

RT @Frencheconomics: Notwithstanding the challenges being experienced by the Labour Force Survey it is picking up a striking trend in worki….

Britain’s typical worker may not be highly taxed compared by the standards of other countries — yet. But ministers should not underestimate the deflating effect of slipping into a higher bracket & losing nearly half of any pay rise . More in my column 🔗.

While basic rate tax and NI is quite low by international standards, our higher rate is above the OECD average. UK additional marginal rate is one of the highest in the world for workers on 100-125k. Britain is unusual for placing such a big burden on upper-middle earners. 4/5

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the fact that when you look at the average worker, Britain has a low tax bill compared with other countries. Why does it still feel like we’re a high tax country?. I think our steep marginal tax rates have a big part to play here. 3/4.

The higher-rate tax threshold used to be almost double the average wage. Now, thanks to frozen bands since 2021, it’s just 28% higher. In fact, as of this year, the typical full-time worker in London is already about to pay higher-rate tax!. 2/4

NEW: How higher-rate tax is no longer just for higher earners. Over the next few years, millions of police officers, teachers, nurses and other people in traditional working tax jobs will face a marginal tax rate of at least 42%. We shouldn’t underestimate the impact of this. 1/4

A third of people in Britain now think the Covid pandemic was exaggerated to control people 🤯🤯. And 22% think the moon landings were staged!. One of many striking findings from new @Moreincommon_ report on shattered Britain. My write up here:. 🔗

RT @LukeTryl: Fantastic write up of the findings and interviews with some of the segments in this @TomHCalver piece for the Sunday Times, w….

RT @AndrewDixonARC: Very good from @TomHCalver,👏👏. "The spiralling cost of services, a real-terms decline in central funding since 2010 and….

RT @bizbookpr: We need a #babyboom — why falling #birthrates are bad news for all of us. @thetimes feature by @TomHCalver on the new book….

.@CentreforCities suggests that if council tax was rebalanced locally, more bands were added and there was a bigger gap between big and small houses, then bills could fall for 2/3 of homes. The problem is, no politician wants to upset the other third….

There are two main views. 1) We pay for the same services - big house and small - so we should all pay the same. 2) It's a tax on wealth: bigger houses should get bigger bills. We're stuck with a system halfway between the two, where massive houses pay 3x as much as small flats

🧵 This week's column is all about council tax!. It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time. Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to. 1/3

Scientists spent much of the 20th century worrying about overpopulation. Their fears went unfounded: humans became richer as our numbers grew. Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem . Review in @thetimes .

One down, four to go!

Rising wages, falling waiting lists: an unpopular take, but in a few ways, life in Britain has been (very slowly) improving over the past year. But it doesn’t feel that way — and that’s a problem for Labour .

RT @HarryYorke1: Exclusive🚨: Ex-Tory minister allowed company that paid him £5k a month to effectively write several of his parliamentary q….

Just one in seven people who moved into economic activity for long-term sickness in 2021-24 were actually working immediately beforehand. Most were either unemployed, looking after family, or in some other form of inactivity

Why it's hard to get that excited about Britain's modest rise in defence spending. This week's @thetimes column .