Of course more nurses are paying higher-rate income tax – it is a fair way to pay for public services

Anyone complaining that too many people are paying the 40p rate needs to explain how they would raise the money instead, writes John Rentoul

What public spending would you cut instead? (PA Wire)

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) knows how to hit the headlines, and “One in five will be paying higher income tax rate by 2027” is one that many readers want to read. They wanted to read it when the IFS pointed out in March that allowing earnings inflation to push more people into the higher-rate tax bracket amounted to the biggest tax rise since Geoffrey Howe doubled VAT in 1979, and they have wanted to read it again now that the IFS has updated its estimates.

The line that is usually well reported in all media, including The Independent, is that nurses and teachers are increasingly being dragged into paying higher-rate tax. At a time when both groups are going on strike for higher pay, it may seem pointed to say so, but people should be pleased that so many nurses and teachers are earning more than £50,270 a year, which is the point at which the 40p-in-the-pound rate comes in.

The question to be asked of anyone who finds it surprising that the chancellor has allowed so many people to be dragged into the higher tax bracket is this: what part of “highest tax burden for 70 years” do you not understand?