ISAs are made tax attractive by the government for political purposes.

Loopholes (tax avoidance) are drafting errors.

Evasion is lying.

Yes, there is a difference, for the benefit of members of the colonies who know no better.

I still don't do any of them. I grew out of it and decided to pay my dues. Not gifts. Dues.

The figures above that I gave stand. We are not "all in this together". The Brown government was in surplus before the bank crisis. The bank crisis was caused by greed and and political limits on the amount of regulation that the prophets of greed had whipped up. Tne conservatives' only complaints on bank regulation was that there was STILL too much of it.

The polluter should pay - but he doesn't. The rich in Vodafone have been given £6 BILLION. The rich tax cheats with loot stashed in Swiss banks have been let off £40 BILLION. The fat cats have put their own pay up 55% while screaming that the poor should be made poorer.

There is a solution that will work. Tax and spend. Far more elegant than Desai's proposals of today for time limited cash to force consumers to spend!

Another might be to nationalise banks without compensation and for the government then to use the money therein on say infrastructure.