"Alex Potter" wrote

The basic rate of income tax was 35% in the days when we had good public
services.

I'm not sure what date you're thinking of, but ITYF that that was not a real
rate of tax on earned incomes because of the 'two-ninths earned income
allowance'. And I suspect that at that date, whatever it was, there was far
less of a subsidy for public transport than there is now, in real terms.

Peter