Tuesday 21 August 2012

The Curious Incident Of The Author In The ‘Guardian’….

Mark Haddon, the award-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, has written to his MP arguing that he and other wealthy people should pay more tax to save others being hit by government spending cuts.
Well, there’s nothing stopping you from paying more tax, should you want to; just calculate what you think you should pay and write a check.

Tim Worstall’s even handily provided the address for you!

Not sure what gives you the authority to speak for other people, though...
He said he had put his opinions in a letter to his MP, sent in February, which read: "I'm a wealthy person. Austerity measures introduced by the coalition have caused real suffering to many people, but my comfortable life hasn't changed in the slightest. Why have I, and people like me, been asked to contribute nothing?"
What do you mean, contribute nothing? Don’t you pay any tax? Consume any VATable goods?
Haddon told the Sunday Times he had annoyed his accountant by insisting on paying all tax that was due rather than seeking to avoid it.
Really? I doubt that. Your accountant gets paid regardless.

He might view you as a fool, but I doubt very much you’ve annoyed him.
Haddon has accused the government as being(sic) "a cabal of very wealthy people", out of touch with ordinary life, saying his experience of attending boarding school and Oxford University had shown him "how easy it is for certain groups of people to become wholly insulated from ordinary life".
Unlike those nice, down-to-earth, salt-of the-earth, good honest working man Labour MPs, I suppose?

8 comments:

Fidel Cuntstruck said...

What an absolutely splendid fellow, such obvious social conscience should not be mocked you know. As a token of my appreciation for his altruism I'm going to send him my Tax bill so he can prove his point by paying it for me.

patently said...

"how easy it is for certain groups of people to become wholly insulated from ordinary life"

What, like wealthy authors who just assume that anyone else on a higher rate of tax has loads of cash just lying around spare?

Furor Teutonicus said...

XX Why have I, and people like me, been asked to contribute nothing?" XX

Really? He has recieved a letter from the IRS, wherein it sais "Please contribute nothing:" Has he?

Perhaps he SHOULD be paying more tax, if THAT is an example of the education system he suffered under.

Woman on a Raft said...

If he drops dead he'll be asked to contribute plenty of inheritance tax.

Greencoat said...

His books are shit, too.

Noggin the Nog said...

I think that he should be reintroduced to the realities of life. He appears to have been insulated from them, by money, for too long and has lost grip on reality.

Give him what he wants; tax him to the point that his disposable income is at the same level of the 'little people' that he patronizes with this shite.

Why do people think that giving the Gov yet more cash will fix anything?

Fact: If Gov spending were returned to exactly the same level as in 1990, this would free up enough cash to enable the abolishment of income tax entirely. As a side point, can anyone see ANY discernible improvement in services and society for all the extra gazillions? Anyone?

My pocket. Best place for my money.

Anonymous said...

Shit, I bought this idiot's book.
John Gibson

JuliaM said...

"What, like wealthy authors who just assume that anyone else on a higher rate of tax has loads of cash just lying around spare?"

:)

"Why do people think that giving the Gov yet more cash will fix anything?"

Well, indeed! It's never worked yet...