As someone on a low-ish wage (well, less than £200k) then I'd say yes! But realistically, this is not going to go down well ... can you image what the Torys would say! Gordon Brown would risk losing loads of votes from people on high salaries (all those City Boys) and he would never do that. Plus it would lead to people fiddling their salaries to avoid having to pay more income tax... sorry, but the more I think about it this is a stupid idea but it's scary that it has actually been proposed.

Here's another question - should think-tanks be forced to come up with useful ideas rather than just stuff that gets headlines but is totally bonkers?

The rich already subsidise council tax bills! Most of the money spent by councils goes on education, healthcare, social services and roads. Anyone earning over £200k is proabably paying the top rate of council tax but not getting anything back in return. Most likely their children are educated privately, they have private healthcare and dont use the roads becuase they need to work 14+ hours a day to earn that amount! Instead of always looking for someone else to shoulder the burden of rising council tax, why not ask why it is so high in the first place and why it has to go up by 4%? I dont see any think-tanks tackling that one!

I hate it when the wealthy whinge about council tax...rather than basing the rate of council tax you pay on the size of your property (just because you have a big doesn't mean you're rich) it should depend on your income.
Hear hear to the pensioners who are risking jail to highlight just how unfair this is.

What do you mean by "subsidise". In theory the rich have always subsidised the poor, its the basis on which our society works. However, in recent years, and since Mrs T scrapped the higher taxation rates, the rich have pushed ahead in the finance stakes well away from the majority of us.

Our public finance model has been tinkered with by successive Governments so much over the years that it is now almost totally useless. It would be a brave politician, not something that they are known for, that proposes a really radical overhaul.

How about getting another off the shelf from one of our European neighbours. Any suggestions which one.?