The top must pay fair share, says Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg insisted yesterday that if the 50p tax rate for the highest paid is to be scrapped, there will have to be some other way of making sure that people at the top of the income scale pay their fair share.

His comments follow remarks made in a BBC interview by the Chancellor George Osborne, who said that the 50p tax rate raises very little money and undermines the ability of British business to compete internationally.

But Mr Clegg said that if anyone is to have a tax break, it should be those on low and middle incomes.

He said the Government was reviewing both the 50p tax rate and "how people at the very top seek to avoid taxes".