I agree that we need a large redistribution of income and wealth.

However, I am not so sure about a financial transactions tax which would result in transactions moving offshore. I invest in a number of companies that are domiciled in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and other places outside the grip of HMRC. The delightful advantage they offer is no Stamp Duty which saves 0.5 per cent on every purchase. That is the jam, not the bread and butter reason for any of my investments. Ireland by contrast has a Stamp Duty of one per cent which makes for very expensive dealing. Generally I avoid Irish companies for just that reason.

Competitiveness is very complicated. Businesses have moved overseas because of lower wages, a too high exchange rate, to be closer to customers... any number of reasons. Once everything was made in the UK and shipped to the rest of the world. Geography made this only a short term solution for things like bricks, basic steel, coal, all the heavy stuff with low profit margins. Such things are best produced near to the site of their use. The simple manufactures like railway lines, hammers, axes could all be made with relatively simple machinery by relatively unskilled labour. Perfect jobs for lower paid semi-skilled workers in a developing economy.

Unfortunately that leaves us with a large proportion of semi-skilled and unskilled workers with nothing to do. We can't compete on wages, even the miserable minimum wage is more than the Chinese get. We have to become better educated, better trained and better managed. There was a programme on TV recently about "The Town That Took on China". A cushion manufacturer in Kirkby, Merseyside and a factory in North East China under the same ownership were compared and contrasted. Well worth watching if it is still on iPlayer. The UK won back some production because of a more skilled workforce and better organisation and management. But the biggest reason was that cushions are largely a fashion item and it takes too long to get a design to China, make it up and ship the finished product back to the markets in Europe and the USA.

The Pound is overpriced because of Osborne's austerity. The UK is seen as a financial safe haven because Osborne prioritises terrorising the work force with government created mass unemployment over growth and jobs.

I think we have to accept that most jobs can be done more cheaply either by robots, computers or in low wage countries. So we either let the unemployable starve, we let them exist on miserly benefits as now or we have a serious redistribution of income and pay them a decent wage to do socially useful work. This could be with old people, disabled people, the environment whatever.

Whichever we choose, we should stop pretending that there is always a legal job for anyone desperate enough.

Most of the small business people I talk to (T/O circa £8 mil) are petrified to take on more staff, and are making do with what they have. They are working flat out with the assets they have and are also reluctant to invest heavily , merely a replacement policy. The main bone of contention is the cost, and time of standing down non productive staff who can be hired and do not shape up to the job. This does not make them ogres , but protectors of peoples' jobs. You cannot even get rid of a thief without going through a whole panoply of meetings written warnings , and could end up in a biased tribunal. It is cheaper to pay them off to go away. This one fact alone stifles enterprise, and threatens employment for millions of people who would like to try a job, and see if they could make the grade. I know there is nothing worse than losing a job, but business is NOT an extension of the welfare state. The Politicians have hijacked business for this purpose and it is killing off enterprise and business variety. They have used it to garnish votes, but its consequences will be paid by all in the end. Britain is withering slowly but surely on the vine. Business is being legislated out of existence in many areas, not all but very much in the small enterprise area, which is the biggest employer.

Why are we surprised at Cameron/Osborne decision to roll back the state - it is their reason for joining the Tory party; it is tory party ideology to make ordinary people pay the price for those who are in charge of making policies that enable their rich buddies to avoid taxation, to avoid paying their full share of it.

Those who voted for the tories are as responsible as the politicians themselves & there are plenty of them around.

My problem with government is that they all seem to come from a background that enables them to look people in their eye & lie, lie, lie - tory, libdem, nulab - they are all liars, have absolutely no morals about how their ideology has wreaked havoc with ordinary families.

There are very few politicians who are able to withstand the corrupt nature of politics, so even if they started of as people with some integrity, by the time they finish their careers, they have been infected by the corruption & of trying to hold on to their jobs - what a tragedy that those who are really keen to promote a more equal society are not interested in taking up politics.

Just a comment Sainsburys are cutting staff where they can and replacing check out staff with auto electronic check out systems. This is happening anywhere where a human can be replaced with a robot. Robots once its gliches are ironed out are far cheaper to use with no hassle, unlike humans. Tough isnt it?

Jeremy at #21
On FTT, a surprisingly Tory/capitalist answer from you. Going off shore to avoid tax?
I am not sure of my facts, but the last article I read suggested an FTT rate of 0.05%, i.e one half of one tenth of a percent. If that is the case surely most of us would stomach it without going off shore.