Today saw the publication of the
34th British Social Attitudes survey . It found that 48% of Britons want the government to raise taxes and increase spending on health, education and social benefits (compared to 44% who want taxes to stay at the same level, and just 4% who want to see them cut). This is the first time since the financial crisis that more people want to see tax rises than taxes staying the same, and reflects a growing public mood in favour of better public services and redistribution of income, and against continued austerity. The same proportion – 48% – think it is wrong to use legal loopholes to avoid paying tax. On the same day, the Government’s Social Mobility Commission has published a report ( Time for Change ) showing that 20 years of attempts to improve social mobility have failed to halt the increasing levels of inequality in our divided country. Taken together, it seems that the public mood is changing, fast.