Lede
“Tax the rich” means nothing if the money dies in spreadsheets.

What does not make sense

• Slogans about fairness while public services wheeze on life support.
• Middle class taxed harder, rich slip past on rails of loopholes.
• Government celebrates “record revenues,” yet hospitals, housing and buses still shrink.
• Minimum wage inches up; real life sprints away.
• The country that once built libraries and railways now builds press releases.

Sense check / The numbers

1. Reports warn the UK could drift back toward Victorian-style inequality without serious redistribution and investment.
2. The tax gap remains tens of billions annually; enforcement at the top is still soft compared with the bottom.
3. Real wages for many workers have flatlined over years once inflation is counted; essentials outpace pay.
4. Public investment lags peers; deferred maintenance becomes crisis spending later.
5. “Living wage” that doesn’t reach the end of the month is not living; it’s triage.

The sketch

• Scene one: Treasury podium: “We taxed the rich.” A tiny coin lands in an empty NHS jar.
• Scene two: Boardroom claps. Accountant whispers, “Relax. We used the usual tunnels.”
• Scene three: High street at dusk: food bank queue; bus that never came; a sign reads “Victorian vibes, modern life.”

What to watch, not the show

• Headline levies with footnote loopholes.
• “Targeted” help that never reaches the target.
• Consultants fattened; councils starved.
• Budgets that punish waste at the bottom and ignore waste at the top.
• Charity photo ops used as policy.

The Hermit take

Don’t preach justice. Fund it. Count outcomes, not boasts. If the pot reaches health, housing and skills, you’ll see it in lives, not leaflets.

Keep or toss

Toss the slogans. Keep the receipts and the rebuild.

Sources

Sky News – UK could slip back into a “Victorian age” gap between rich and poor:
https://news.sky.com/story/uk-could-slip-back-into-a-victorian-age-gap-between-rich-and-poor-new-report-says-13027063
HMRC – Measuring the UK tax gap (latest):
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps/1-tax-gaps-summary
Resolution Foundation – Living Standards Outlook:
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-living-standards-outlook-2025/
IFS – UK public spending and investment overview:
https://ifs.org.uk/publications
ONS – Average earnings and inflation tracker:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours