Priti Patel, writing in The Spectator’s Coffee House blog, warns that:

… we should all fear Ed Miliband’s praise for a new socialist French President who plans to raise the top rate of tax to 75 per cent. It is a chilling reminder of Miliband’s own commitment to a permanent 50 per cent income tax rate in this country.

But as he visited the Elysée Palace this week, one of France’s leading newspapers warned that the 75 per cent tax rate threat is already leading to French businesses evacuating senior executives to London. Since François Hollande’s victory on 6 May, this exodus of enterprise has caused the waiting list of the prestigious Charles de Gaulle school in our capital to rocket by over 700 places. We haven’t even rolled out the red carpet yet.

Very true. Let this be a warning to all those who think either that there is a binary choice between “austerity” and “growth”, or that Britain’s (or France’s) finances can be rectified, and the current excessive levels of government spending maintained, simply by turning the screws on the rich a little more.

Unfortunately, Patel’s article also misses out the most crucial actions required to get the British economy moving again – introducing much needed supply side reforms. Note:

Yesterday’s economic news reminds us of the need for the Government to continue to focus relentlessly on getting our economy moving – dealing with the debt crisis, boosting bank lending to the real economy, and ensuring sustainable long-term prosperity through radical economic reform.

Nothing about reducing regulation, either independently or through the European Union. Nothing about tackling the restive trades union that are always a day or so away from striking for spurious reasons.

By all means warn about Labour’s policies on tax, but given the fact that Osborne messed up the Budget and left us with a 45% top rate of tax for the foreseeable future, let’s focus on where the coalition government has the political strength to do the most good to restore economic growth.