Just how bad is our tax system?

Plus: how Britain can become an energy superpower again, and AI v Net Zero

Oct 19, 2026

Your taxes aren’t just too high – they’re also needlessly damaging.

My colleague Daniel Herring wrote for CapX today about the latest International Tax Competitiveness Index, which shows Britain languishing in 30th place. We may be doing better than France, which comes 38th, at the very bottom of the table, but that shouldn’t be cause for complacency. Since the index was created in 2014, our ranking on corporate taxes has dropped by eight places.

Even John Healey ought to appreciate the case for designing a simpler, better system that makes us more competitive. But with senior Labour figures like Louise Haigh calling for higher taxes on wealth, which would push us even further down the rankings, don’t expect any improvement at the Budget.

Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.

Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX

Today’s Takes

Fresh thinking from CapX

Bad taxes are damaging the economy

Daniel Herring

‘Sadly, chancellor after chancellor has been unwilling to take the steps needed to fix our tax system.’

This year’s International Tax Competitiveness Index is a disappointing read for the United Kingdom. The way we raise taxes is far too economically damaging – and getting worse. It doesn’t have to be like this. There are plenty of ways to raise the same amount of money without harming the economy as much. The Chancellor should focus on simplifying the tax system. Read More

The UK was an energy superpower. What went wrong?

Sebastian Charleton

‘If global fuel supplies ran short tomorrow, could we keep the lights on? In Britain today, the answer is not a straightforward yes.’

This country used to be the original energy superpower, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Today, a sclerotic planning system has left our infrastructure crumbling, while our energy bills keep getting higher. We have one of the most vulnerable energy systems in the G7. We need to gut the planning friction that paralyses infrastructure development and we need to build up a nuclear energy fleet. We can’t rely on renewables alone. Read More

Stat of the Day

Best of the Web

AI is blowing apart the case for Net Zero

Ross Clark, The Spectator

‘Thanks to renewables and a grid which is inadequate to handle them, we have expensive, intermittent electricity.’

There was a time not so long ago when green jobs were going to replace all the dirty old jobs. In the age of AI, which is attracting so much investment, it’s neither realistic nor practical. If Britain wants to be a big player in AI it needs a lot of reliable power, which intermittent renewables can’t provide. Needless to say, this is not what Ed Miliband wants to hear. Read More

Capital really is leaving Britain, whatever the Left says

Brian Monteith, The Telegraph 🔒

‘Simply put, we cannot keep voting for governments that punish success or we all become losers.’

Millionaires and billionaires are leaving the UK in droves. In 2024 and 2025 we lost almost 30,000 liquid millionaires. A lot of them will have gone to Dubai, which has seen British membership of its Chambers of Commerce skyrocket. This can’t go on. It leaves those of us still here paying ever-higher taxes even while public services inexorably decline. Read More