This April will see a tax cut for the richest. The top income tax rate will be reduced from 50% to 45%.

 Much comment has been made about how unfair this is.

 The 50% income tax rate has an interesting if short history. It was introduced by Gordon Brown in the last month of the 13 years of a Labour government. Some suggest it was an election stunt.

For the other 13 years the Labour government top income tax rate was 40%. Under the coalition government, the top rate of income tax will have been 50% for three years or 36 months. When this top rate is reduced it will still be at 45% which is still higher than the 40% that Labour used to collect.

So when you hear howls of derision about this tax cut. Remember it will still be higher than under Labour.