On the other other hand...

Socialism only works if everyone (or at least the overwhelming majority) play 'by the rules'. By that I mean that the very rich should pay the taxes they 'should' pay, without using the system of exemptions, loopholes, tax havens and whatnot to avoid as much tax as possible. At the other end of the scale, people should claim only those benefits to which they are entitled, and then only taking as much as they need for as little time as they need (but, it's important to note, claiming those benefits that they actually do need). This maximises the amount of money left in the pot, so to speak, and keeps the whole system ticking along.

Instead, we have a tax system so convoluted and arcane that many of the richest members of our society pay virtually no tax, through the wonders of clever accounting. At the other end of the scale, one in seven of the adult populace of Glasgow are claiming incapacity benefit. That's right - allegedly one in seven adults in Glasgow is too sick to work.

Of course, this creates a major pressure on the system, which the government can only make up through taxes. So, those of us in the middle get hit with crippling fuel bills (and despite living right next to a railway station, and working about a mile from an airport, I cannot effectively take public transport to work - I have to commute, which means I have to pay), excessive tax hikes on our little pleasures (55p a bottle on whiskey? I'm sure that will cut down on teenage binge drinking), and cannot make use of the services to which we're entitled because all the sodding dentists have gone private.

Under those circumstances, it's really hard to fault the Thatcherite thinking of "I'm all right; to hell with everyone else".