Scrooges’ lobby group the Taxpayers Alliance appeared to have had a visit from the ghost of Christmas yet to come yesterday as it released research confirming that the rich don’t pay their way.

The business cheerleaders departed from their usual demands for a Dickensian free-for-all for the wealthy with a report suggesting that the least well-off 10 per cent spend 47 per cent of their income on VAT and other taxes.

At the same time the richest 10 per cent coughed up only just over a third.

But right-wing chief executive Jonathan Isaby just couldn’t keep up the pretence of caring about ordinary people.

“Not only does the tax system hit the poorest hardest, but those at the top are already contributing far more than anybody could reasonably describe as their ‘fair share’,” he moaned.