The Forsyth Saga- Picturebook Edition

"It's. The. Same. Old. Tories.... Have you got that Jeremy, Jim, John etc etc?"

"Here is the news. The Conservatives today admitted they intend to destroy the NHS and kill all the firstborn."

The lib media's reaction to the Forsyth Tax Commission Report has been grimly predictable: the tax-funded BBC has been especially dire.

Few if any of our celeb media jockeys will actually have read the report's 176 pages. But since their stories were ready to roll already, I guess they didn't need to.

Which is a great pity, becuase for anyone interested in understanding the real issues on tax, Forsyth's report is an instant classic. Drawing on the latest experience and research from around the world, it analyses where we've got to, explains why "do nothing" is not an option, and sets out a detailed programme of reform- not just its widely reported headline tax measures, but also how Brown's cumbersome ill-informed machinery of tax decision-making can be brought back under control.

We will be using the report as a key reference point over coming months, but as a service to lazy journos everywhere, here's the picturebook version:

High tax means slower growth....

...and Britain has become a high tax economy...



...especially in company tax...

...but also with more and more people dragged into income tax...

...and our tax system has become far more complex and costly...

...so you see we're going to need rather more than the odd headline grabbing summit with "business leaders".