That was how a disturbing article described wealthy people in the UK. It seems the gap between rich and poor is ever widening, and not just in financial terms. The wealthy have little idea of how the rest live. They have an inflated idea of their own contribution to the economy and when asked what annual salary would put someone in the top 10% of earners, they put it at £162,00, when it was in fact in 2007 around £40,000.
They disliked paying taxes and their great defence is the government is inefficient and public money mis-spent. A group said that the admin costs of paying tax credits was astronomical, when in fact it is 3% - whereas the office costs to turnover for an average city bank is nearer 8%.
But the rich are paying more tax - or are they? An estimate by a tax consultant firm was that in 2006 at least 32 of the UK's 54 billionaires paid no tax at all.
You don't have to prejudiced to be rich, but it helps enormously.
Article in The Guardian 4.8.08. See www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/04/workandcareers.executivesalaries
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