Private equity boss Nicholas Ferguson sparked controversy this month when he said it was "unfair" that highly-paid executives in his industry pay a lower rate of tax than a cleaning lady.

 

One woman who knows better than most about the apparent inequality of the system is Vitoria Canario Mendes.

The 38-year-old cleaner works five days a week at Apax Partners, a firm founded by Sir Ronald Cohen, a man with a fortune of £260million and a close friend of Gordon Brown. It was Sir Ronald, who has since relinquished his holding in Apax, who warned last week that rioting could break out on Britain's streets because of anger at the widening gap between rich and poor.

 

And at the beginning of June Mr Ferguson, chairman of CVG Capital, said: "Any commonsense person would say that a highly-paid private equity executive paying less tax than a cleaning lady or other low-paid workers...can't be right."

Vitoria earns £11,000 a year, or just over £200 a week for around 40 hours' work.

 

She is liable for income tax at a rate of 22 per cent - more than double the ten per cent capital gains tax rate from which the high-flying financiers benefit.

 

Seems to me the rich get richer and the rest of us pay for it.

i read that too brian...lol..

 

yeah thats pretty disgusting innit.. my nephew after doing loads of overtime is being taxed at £900 a month! he only works in a factory...

This is theft!!!! Pure and simple... The lowest paid workers are the ones getting screwed, while these scummy "entrepreneurs" get away with paying their fair share, not to mention the gigantic loopholes they can gleefully sail through, setting up "off-shore companies" and the like.... About time these loopholes were plugged and the rich b/astards out there started coughing up.... <_<

 

This comes hot on the heels of the homes Stamp Duty scandal as well, where rich foreign businessmen are getting away with paying less than 1% while ordinary British folks are paying 4%.... Disgusting..... :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

Something else that Gordon Brown has resolutely failed to address.....

 

Nu Labor are no better than the Tories for letting the rich scum get away with murder, they really aren't......