Tax avoidance schemes are available to all, all people have to do is avail themselves of them, professor. Those poor sailor's you voice your concern about, could still bring whatever additional allowances into play to reduce their overall tax (Had to claim it back though), their employers just would not let them attain the resident but not domiciled status allowed their civilian counterparts, who did not object one bit - but being of the left you obviously subscribe to there being one law for the goose and another for the gander. I much prefer one law for all applied even-handedly.

But then I suppose you have to remember the governing tenets of the whining left:

It's always somebody else's fault.

It's always somebody else that has to pay.

Where the Vestey's lived doesn't matter a damn if they have qualified for being "resident but not domiciled in the UK" for tax purposes.

"who (do) you think puts money into tax-free off-shore schemes?" Now the correct answer to that would be anybody that wants to I suppose.

Yes higher rates of tax than the UK, at least one of the highest standards of living in the world. Very good arguement for higher taxes Folkiedave, but they go right across the board and everybody pays them. How long you can spend on welfare is strictly limited, if you don't find yourself a job, after that certain period they will put you into one. The whole system is very transparent you can see what they spend the money on, they don't rob pensions as our new PM did when he was Chancellor to finance some daft experimental fad only to lose interest half way through it.

Go back and read down that list of election promises Tony was so keen on harping on about way back in 1997 - How many were kept? Rhetoric question, the answer was none.

It was the Conservatives that lowered the basic rates of tax in the UK - wasn't it Folkiedave? Which put more money into peoples pockets and most chose to spend it, good for business, good for the country. Back to a matter of choice again Folkiedave, it's all a matter of choice.