Goodbye Tony

Tony Blair always thought it was only a matter of time before Gordon Brown started increasing the top rates of tax in the UK, once the 'Clunking Fist' managed to oust Blair from 10 Downing Street.

And so it came to pass, this week, when Brown used the excuse of his busting boom to ratchet the top rate up to 50% (plus national insurance).

Tony Blair is said to be furious. But is this because his ZaNu Labour 'legacy' is now being destroyed by Brown, or for more prosaic reasons?

Maturin Towers believes the 'fury' is simpler to explain. As one of the richest men in Britain, earning several million pounds a year in dubious speaking fees, if Tony Blair stays resident in the UK, he's going to have to hand much of this filthy 'hard-earned' lucre back to his old 'chum' in Downing Street.

Which really will become a 'motivational' problem.

Expect Tony Blair to move his tax residence, real soon, certainly as soon as the 50% top rate comes in. This will be to avoid tax. He will claim it is due to his 'pressing' international engagements. Which will be rich!

So where will he go? Well, he's a fluent French speaker so if Maturin Towers contained any gambling men they would be putting their fiat currency money down on Switzerland ("I need to be near Geneva, as it's the headquarters of many international organisation") or Luxembourg ("I need to be closer to the centre of the EU"). French is the main lingua franca in both places, though with catholicism being very strong in Geneva, that may give it the edge.

(Although, of course, if he was being honest - Ha! - he would choose Monaco.)

Yes, it will be laughingly ironic if one of the first tax emigrés to escape these shores to evade the tax-robbing reach of Godfather Gordon Brown, is former Labour premier, Tony Blair.

Remember, that when this happens, you read it here first.