Draw Breath

It's good to see the Conservative Party, through the otherworldly presence of John Redwood, arguing strongly for the tax burden on UK business to be reduced (the full report, in pdf format, is here). And it's good to see Ireland's low corporate tax base cited as a warning: if British taxes aren't reduced, globalised businesses might just head to kinder climes where they wouldn't have to fork out so much to government.

Just one thing.

How are we to reconcile a fear about the tax burden on business with the fact that almost a third of the 700 top British business paid not one single penny in corporation tax during the 2005-6 period? Or that another third barely paid any? This, I fear, will require a more advanced mind than my own...