Susanna Reid had a message for Brits who moved to Dubai to avoid paying tax and Andrew Neil’s rant just made us like it even more
It’s hardly the most important aspect of America’s extraordinary attack on Iran but it ain’t half got people talking.
And that is what happens to Brits who moved to Dubai to avoid paying tax who are now not entirely comfortable at the prospect of air raid sirens and worse disrupting their especially untaxing way of life.
And not many people put it better than Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid who phrased it as a question but the way she did it didn’t leave to much room for doubt – in our minds anyway – what she thinks about it.
Susanna Reid: “Brits have moved to places like Dubai, potentially.. to avoid paying tax.. if they need rescuing.. should they pay for their own evacuation, because if they’re avoiding paying tax then they’re avoiding paying into public services, like the govt coming to get you” pic.twitter.com/5Z0Qkf8N19
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 3, 2026
Beautifully put.
There were plenty of people who didn’t agree, obviously.
Whether you call it tall poppy syndrome or crabs in a bucket mentality, it is impossible to understate the resentment toward the lower middle class leaving to enjoy a higher level of consumption-based lifestyle than both their peers and supposed betters back here. https://t.co/u1mXtdIuVi
— CJ (@UnderSneege) March 3, 2026
And lots of people who did.
Absolutely this. Every penny spent on these tax-dodging parasites should be charged up front. They left because they didn’t want their money helping anyone else in the UK, now is when they discover what that means.
👏👏 @susannareid100 https://t.co/Hb6yyqmv7U— Mike Holden (@MikeHolden42) March 3, 2026
And then there was Andrew Neil.
This is just populist drivel. Expats don’t generally pay British tax whether they’re in low-tax territories like Dubai or high tax territories like New York. So by this logic all expats should pay for their evacuation.
And here’s the rub: they do!
In most cases, British… https://t.co/mGk8aydz6s— Andrew Neil (@afneil) March 3, 2026
We quite enjoyed the look on Ed Balls’ face too (Balls being married to foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, obviously) as he desperately tried not to give any indication of an opinion either way.
Yep, we’re definitely with Susanna on this one, as was her occasional Good Morning Britain pundit, Kevin Maguire in a post later shared by Reid.
No representation without taxation!
British tax exile migrants in the Middle East aren’t so smug now.
Time for the UK to adopt a US-style link of taxation to nationality – not residency.
Want a British passport and everything it gives? Pay fair instead of freeloading.
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) March 3, 2026
Nailed it.
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Source @SaulStaniforth