Regarding Britain, France and Germany, the governments of all three are using liberalising rhetoric (Merkel too, she won an election back when she made it the centerpiece, but she uses it even today, while using opposed rhetoric too), while all three go against it in practice with a routine. Lengyel's mistaken view is tendentious, but above all a rather typical superficial reading based on the (perhaps selective reading of) liberalising rhetoric - and its enhancement in media.
It's sad, really. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
For Germany e.g. maximum income tax: 47.5%, after Schroeder went down from 56% under Kohl to 44.3%, the Merkel gov increased it again state quote: about 43% estimated for 2008 by BFM (after 46.8% in 2005) less but close to 30% enterprise taxation Gemach, gemach
