The Hopeful thing that could happen

Well, they've already upped Value Added Tax (Sales Tax for you Americans) by 2.5% to 20%.

Guess what? That hits those on lowest incomes the hardest. Not to mention that it would be relatively trivial for anyone on £30,000+ p.a. to take out VAT registration and profit from reclaiming on a variety of larger purchases such as computers.

I am not an accountant. That sounds like an option some self-employed people and company directors. However, in return, you get to be a tax collector for the government: you have to collect 20% from all your customers.