James Mahone: Britain is not over-taxed – it is under-trusted

James Mahone is a Conservative Party activist and Policy Exchange member

A common narrative in British politics today is that our biggest challenge is the tax burden. But the deeper problem is not how much the state takes – it is how little the public trusts what it gives back, and how few people believe it will ever change.

Whether or not Britain is over-taxed, the deeper issue is trust. The public sees rising costs but doesn’t believe they’re getting value in return. It’s under-trusted – and unless trust is restored, no party will succeed in selling any fiscal strategy, whether based on tax cuts or tax rises.

We now have the highest tax burden in 75 years, yet public confidence in the state’s ability to deliver is at a generational low. Citizens see more extraction through tax, regulation, surveillance, but diminishing value. Despite record spending, they encounter backlogs, waiting lists, generic replies, and a constant sense that the system has been designed to protect itself, not serve them.

There was a time when citizens tolerated inefficiency; institutions had historical authority. But that time is gone – and in a low-trust society, legitimacy is no longer inherited, it must be earned.

It’s earned through value, competence, clarity, and measurable results.

The most economically productive class – professionals, SMEs, property owners, landlords, investors – is no longer vocally angry. It is simply opting out. They still pay, but they no longer believe. It is belief that sustains systems between elections.

This quiet disengagement isn’t ideological. It’s behavioural. People are moving capital offshore; using private alternatives to public services; and minimising declared income through entirely legal structures.

They are not breaking the law, but they no longer feel morally invested in funding a system they believe delivers little in return.

Politicians talk about fiscal discipline and economic growth, but voters see stealth tax rises via frozen thresholds and bracket creep. They see state departments with multi-million-pound procurement deals delivering dismal results. They hear slogans such as “levelling up”, “net zero”, “sustainable transport”, but experience static councils, broken pavements, and hollow consultations.

There is a growing perception, especially outside Westminster, that the state is not too big – it is too slow. Too vague. Too unaccountable. That’s not a tax problem; it’s a trust problem.

The conservative answer is not reflexive tax cutting, nor empty promises to “spend better”. It is a cultural reset:

• Deliver clarity. Citizens must be able to see where their money goes, and what outcome it produced.
• Deliver competence. Ministers and councils should be judged on outputs, not announcements. If a project fails, someone must own that failure.
• Deliver simplicity. The tax code, the benefits system, the procurement process, all must be streamlined. Complexity breeds evasion and resentment.
• End the hostility to small enterprise. Right now, many productive individuals feel hunted while large corporations manoeuvre through loopholes.

A truly pro-enterprise state doesn’t just say “you didn’t build that”, it builds with them.

Whatever the next Government proposes – cuts, hikes, incentives – it will only work if the electorate sees competence first. Trust cannot be assumed, it must be rebuilt, transaction by transaction, department by department.

If Conservatives want to lead this renewal, we must stop focusing only on fiscal levers and start restoring institutional dignity and delivery.

Because if the public believes the state extracts more than it returns, they will not rally behind reform. They will resist. Or worse, they’ll walk away.

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