LONDON — Of all the unwise policies of recent years that have steadily undermined the Thatcher legacy of British economic dynamism and enterprise, perhaps the worst and most ill-judged is the current attempt to drive out the super-rich foreigners who have hitherto found Britain such an attractive place in which to live.
These so-called nondomiciled residents have been crowding into London for the past three decades, bringing untold wealth and spending power and helping to turn London into one of the most glittering capitals in the world, as well as making it the global financial hub — the place where everyone wants to be and work, and to have a home.
Admittedly the outcome has been soaring house and apartment prices, and eye-watering prices in London's ever multiplying restaurants. And there has been plenty of grumbling from the indigenous British that these mega-rich foreigners should pay the same taxes as everyone else if they want to settle in the country and enjoy its benefits.