The public sector is feathering its nest at Britain's expense

LOW-TAX countries deliver better health and welfare, reveals a report this week.

- Tim Newark

Chancellor Rachel Reeves should take note of the fact that high-tax countries such as Britain and some Nordic nations are failing to provide good enough welfare.

Britain's tax burden has skyrocketed but we have fallen to 20th place with a health system that does not match lower tax countries like Switzerland, Japan and South Korea.

On the eve of the Chancellor's second Budget next week, it's blindingly obvious that taking more and more of our money does not ensure better services.

The Institute of Economic Affairs analysis reveals that a once enviable country like Sweden has plunged from first place to eighth in terms of life expectancy, while its tax burden has leapt to 43% of GDP.

Britain has fallen even further, to 22nd place in life expectancy, despite our record tax burden, while Switzerland with a private health insurance system has superior health outcomes.

It's time that Labour politicians stopped whinging about our supposedly world-leading NHS needing even more money, when most of the additional tax goes on higher wages and gold-plated pensions rather than patient care.

Just a few pounds more to bring down ever longer queues for care is a fallacy the bloated Government continues to propagate.