London(Shakespearefinance) June 26, 2009:The income gap among the Britons are at its highest level and is widening. This gap is higher compared to 1997 when Labour came to power. According to the recent estimates, the disposable income of the richest Britons is six times greater than the poorest. The poorest fifth of the United Kingdom population have 'original income' of £4,900 a year and the richest have about 15 times more money, with £72,890 and the gap is increasing every day.

The redistribution process through benefits narrowed gap of disposable income. But the credit crunch, inflation and unavailability of unsecured loans have made the situation gloomy. According to the figures from the Office for National Statistics, the least well-off are paying more taxes as a percentage of their income than richer ones. The 20% of the poorest folk lose nearly 40% of their total annual income in taxes, compared to a national average of 35.3%. This figure is 34.8% for the richest 20%.

Instead of helping them to improve their living standards, the labour government is hitting them with a rising tax burden. With the increasing cost of living, the tax burden becomes unbearable day by day. The tax burden on the poorest Britons had been increased 11 times faster than it had for the rest of the population in last three years. The increased figures come after the scrapping of the 10p starting rate of tax caused lots of hue and cry. Under the mounting pressure from different quarters, last month unveiled £120/year emergency tax to give away more than 5 million of the country's lowest-earners to calm the storm.