The moral majority is in revolt

Britain’s law-abiding majority is a myth. A recent study found that 61% of Britons admitted to such dodgy practices as pilfering office stationery, padding insurance claims and paying builders in cash. But if the respectable middle classes really are this lawless I suspect it has more to do with resentment than greed.

For the truth is that the middle classes are getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop in contemporary Britain. The rising tax burden has hit them harder than other groups, since they benefit from neither the tax avoidance schemes enjoyed by the rich, nor the tax credits and other reimbursements offered to the poor. Clobbered by punitive stamp duty if they move house, and discriminated against if they try to send their children to university, the middle classes are harried at every turn. It is as if they were being punished for their thrift, their prudence and their aspirations - made to pay and pay again, while those above and below them are not.

No wonder they are losing their inclination to civic virtue and starting to behave as badly as everyone else.

What you can do

Support a better tax regime: read my post on the subject