Can Gordon Brown tackle Britain's super-rich?

Following private equity executive Nicholas Ferguson's recent comment that he pays less tax than his cleaning lady, the UK press has been calling for a crackdown on tax loopholes for the super-rich. Johann Hari claims this could be new PM Gordon Brown's first challenge. "The populist potential of an international crusade to make the mega-rich pay their fair share is vast. ... This is the new centre ground of British politics, where even the moderately wealthy can sweatily see that a grossly unequal society is dangerous for us all. Far from being an attack on aspiration, it is an attempt to spread it to far more people, using all those wild profits stashed in Bermuda to create better schools and hospitals for everyone. But the super-rich giants speak very loudly. ... Now he has the keys to No 10, will Brown have the courage to see beyond their intimidation and seize the new mood - before it turns on him, too?"

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