ANOTHER day, another illegal arrival of a small boat packed to the gunnels with young, selfie-taking men who’ll no doubt be delivering a pizza to the virtue- signalling “no borders” brigade by next week.
Clearly, Treasury minister Darren Jones, who claimed on Question Time that the majority of vessels were carrying “children, babies and women” wasn’t on the beach in France that day.
This latest shipment of mostly economic migrants brings the tally this year alone (that we know of) to approximately 20,000 and, with it, an extra £3billion on the UK tax bill.
But hey, a record 16,500 of another demographic are set to leave the UK this year, so perhaps it all balances out in the end?
Trouble is, the escapees are wealthy and this exodus puts the UK on top of the global rankings for “dollar millionaire” departures for the first time in a decade.
According to the Henley Private Wealth Migration Report, it’s part of a “historic wave of wealth migration” as a result of tax increases and falling economic confidence.
Taking jobs
The Tory government’s closure of the Tier 1 investor visa didn’t help, nor did its overhaul of non-dom rules, and now Labour’s inheritance tax changes have accelerated the trend.
It’s estimated that those leaving collectively hold £66billion in investable assets, and they’ll be taking jobs with them too.
Jason Hollands, from wealth manager Evelyn Partners, says: “It’s not just the tax receipts of wealthy people leaving the UK that will be missed — businesses and charities that benefit from their spending will be affected too. Cooks, gardeners, cleaners, restaurants, theatres, car showrooms, hotels and property will all suffer, undermining the jobs market.”
Quite. So while it’s easy for some to sit back and blithely say “good riddance, who cares about wealthy people”, the economic repercussions aren’t as easy to brush off.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that if even half of the UK’s non-doms decide to up sticks and leave, then tax revenues to the Treasury will drop by an estimated £12.2billion by 2030.
And where will the money come from to plug that hole in the country’s finances?
Well, considering today’s news that chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to axe the £20,000 limit on ISAs — the tax-free savings vehicle that successive governments have encouraged everyone to take advantage of — it looks like the very “working people” that Labour claims to champion will be footing the bill.
So well done everyone.
BEAUTY NOT SO SWELL
I WENT to see Danny Boyle’s new movie 28 Years Later at the weekend.
Although not for the faint-hearted, one scene made me laugh out loud.
A young lad who has lived a sheltered life on a remote UK island without phones or social media, meets a Swedish soldier who’s had full access to modern living.
When the man shows the boy a photo of his girlfriend with the cosmetically enhanced lips that are so commonplace these days, the kids says: “What’s wrong with her face?”
He then innocently suggests it’s reminiscent of when his friend had a shellfish allergy.
As a social commentary on how skewed our idea of beauty has become, it was perfect.
Kim a front-runner for lingerie campaign
RECEIVING an invite with the theme of “pyjama party” is my idea of heaven.
If it’s winter, off I trot in my tartan winceyettes and furry slippers.
And if it’s the warmer months, then it’s light cotton jimmies all the way down to the ankle.
Either way, it involves the minimum of effort and means you spend the entire evening in a blissful state of comfort. Better still, you’re ready for bed as soon as you get home.
Unless, that is, you’re Kim Kardashian, pictured arriving at the post-wedding “pyjama party” of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in Venice.
Ye gods.
Whatever it is that she’s almost wearing, it’s certainly not anything you could sleep in. And the golden memo of “never upstage the bride” appears to have somehow got lost in the post.
Coincidentally, famous Italian lingerie brand La Perla has just been saved from bankruptcy thanks to a €25million buyout by US businessman Peter Kern.
If he wants an, er, front-facing celebrity to help buoy sales, look no further.
BAN ON BUDGIE BULGE
UH-OH. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . .
The much-maligned “budgie smugglers” are back in fashion.
Except, they were maligned for a reason.
For not all men look like swimmer Adam Peaty, seen here modelling a pair of tight trunks.
Yes, yes, I know we’re all about body positivity these days and the fact that all shapes should be celebrated.
But if the shape I’m seeing is the outline of someone’s excessively hirsute meat and two veg, the long shorts of it is “put it away”.
TEACH HOW TO THINK
GARY LINEKER reckons those running the BBC have “lost their way” when it comes to impartiality.
“The impartiality issue has become a massive problem that I think they’ve probably created themselves . . . we just need to know the truth,” he says.
But what is “the truth” in this post-truth world?
Is it Gary’s “truth”? Is it the “truth” of someone who might disagree with him on an issue? Or does it sit somewhere between the two?
We just don’t know. So the BBC policy of providing both sides of an argument via guests, while presenters maintain impartiality, is the best way to let viewers make an informed viewpoint of their own.
Which is why teaching young people how to think, rather than what to think, remains so important.
WHILE Brad Pitt was posing on the red carpet for the London premiere of his new movie F1, opportunistic thieves were ransacking his home in LA.
Three suspects fled the house with “miscellaneous property” and, like the burglary at Nicole Kidman’s LA home in February, it’s believed the break-ins are linked to organised gangs.
Be it drugs, online scams, street begging, large-scale shoplifting or car thefts, the exploits of such gangs who consider a day’s work to be taking what other, law-abiding people have toiled hard for, now seem to be so out of control that one wonders whether it can ever be tackled effectively.
EVER BEEN A MUG?
MEGHAN MARKLE’S As Ever “artisanal” spread is reportedly made on an industrial site 2,000 miles from her home.
And yesterday, she launched her own brand of rose wine which, assuming she and Harry haven’t started treading their own grapes, is no doubt produced by someone else too.
But they’re not the mugs, are they?
No, that honour belongs to anyone who pays a premium for something with the “Sussex” name on that could be bought far more cheaply without it.
CERTAIN critics say it’s infuriating that Evita star Rachel Zegler sings Don’t Cry For Me Argentina to the crowd gathered below the London Palladium’s balcony rather than to the paying ticket-holders inside the theatre.
I disagree. If you wished to attend the show this evening, the only two tickets available are £218 each – meaning a plus one outing costs the same as a week’s holiday on the Costa Brava.
So all credit to director Jamie Lloyd for making a brief slice of it available to anyone who can afford the bus fare to get there.
