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Phantom of the Opera Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber Opposes High U.K. Taxes

April 27th, 2009 · 17 Comments

“When the money keeps rolling in you don’t ask why”

- Evita -

Andrew Lloyd-Webber in an op-ed he wrote for the Daily Mail argues that Britain’s high taxes are destroying the nation:

The opinion polls have uttered. The country loves the new 50 per cent top rate of income tax. Soak the rich. Smash the bankers. So Government spin doctors are in second heaven. The Conservatives’ silence redefines a tomb. And I suppose there’d be quite a turnout for the public flogging of Sir Fred the Shred.

But before you book your tickets, hold hard. And before you lynch me as a rich [bastard] flying a kite for my own cause, let me beg you to believe that I am not.

Webber, the composer and producer of the blockbuster musicals, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and The Phantom of the Opera, is concerned that high taxes will result in a talent-flight from the UK:

So I ask the Government to reconsider what it is doing. More than ever before we need to keep high-flying professionals in the UK. We can’t, as we have done in the past, dump on them through penal personal taxation.

I fear the inevitable exodus of the talent that can dig us out of the hole we find ourselves in. It is inevitable, given that other countries are bidding for entrepreneurs. The Government must modify its proposals.

Is Webber right that high taxes on the rich inevitably result in the exodus of the creative class?

Do we have cause for concern along these lines here in America?

Let me know what you think.

(Kudos: Paul Caron)

Other Posts:

UK Tax To Rise Higher and Faster than Planned - Kelly Phillips Erb (Tax Girl)

Tags: News · Tax Policy

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