Shock horror – 100 fat cats want another Conservative government.

Today, April Fool’s Day, was headlined by a letter from 100 big business leaders who all agree that Conservative economic policy is good for big business (true) and argue that this means it’s also good for everyone (really?).

Their first proposition is undeniable – several of the signatories have annual incomes from £5-10 million and at least one, was paid over £15 million. They claim that higher taxes on the rich would make it harder for business to prosper and that that’s bad for everyone.

However, there’s no evidence that the so-called ‘trickle down’ theory (vast incomes at the top leads to increased income all round) is true. On the contrary, vast income at the top closely correlates with depressed incomes at the bottom.

Less self-serving business people than these 100 have argued that the culture of executive greed – and the public contempt that it engenders – threatens the long-term sustainability of capitalism. That’s far more credible than this April Fools’ joke.

By the way ….. An analysis by the Independent shows that one in five of the businesspeople who signed a letter supporting Tory economic policy were given honours by David Cameron in the last few years, while one third have donated money to the Conservative party.

Among the 103 signatories of the letter, published on the front page of the Daily Telegraph this morning, are four Conservative members of the House of Lords – all ennobled by David Cameron. The Prime Minister also doled out 18 MBEs, OBEs, CBEs and knighthoods to signatories of the letter over the last parliament.

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