Taxed up

The Inland Revenue is to sieze assets held by an anti-war campaigner who withheld 10% of his income tax in protest at the Iraq campaign following court action.

Chief magistrate Malcolm Sharp told Mr Barker: "Were we all not to pay our tax or deduct from our tax because of something we disagreed with that the government has done or not done, there would be a very serious effect on the economy."

Some of those "very serious effects":

People on welfare would lose their benefits and have to work.
Public sector workers would have to fund their own pensions.
Scotland would have to pay for itself.
Wales would have to pay for itself.
The EU would need a new source of funding.
Public sector graduate salaries could not grow by 9.5%