A 50 per cent tax rate for high earners sends a message that successful people are "not wanted" in the UK, entrepreneurs and business leaders warned yesterday.

The Budget move to impose the highest tax rates on big earners since the 1970s met a chorus of disapproval from wealth generators. Charlie Mullins, the £1.5m-a-year founder and managing director of Pimlico Plumbers in London,faces a tax rise of more than £137,000. "The government should be providing incentives, not punishing successful people" he said.