Tax burden at its highest since 1991

The Telegraph is reporting that families are facing their highest tax burden since 1991.

Not at all surprising, I must say.

Much of the increase comes from stealth taxes. The basic rate of income tax has not moved much in the past 17 years: recently, we've had 23%, then 22%, and now 20%. However, council tax has shot through the roof, as have indirect taxes such as the excise duties on fuel. Oh, and let's not forget fiscal drag - that convenient ruse by which Chancellors rake in more tax by increasing the tax-free allowance by the rate of inflation, well knowing that salary rises oftentimes exceed that rate. Result? More people fall to be taxed as higher earners than would otherwise be the case.

So yes, none of this is surprising. The only surprising thing is that the Telegraph article does not contain any remarks from a Government minister. In time past, someone would have turned up to dispute the data, claiming that things have never been rosier for the British people. So did the Telegraph not bother to ask a minister to comment? Or could it be that no Government minister came forward to argue the case? Perhaps they all now realise the desperate hollowness of their empty words, not just to the electorate, but more significantly, to themselves?