Gordon Brown, his friend the tycoon and the real reason for attacking super-rich

The irony of Sir Ronnie Cohen, the man who introduced venture capitalism to Britain and made a £250million fortune in the process, warning that the wealth gap between his former colleagues and ordinary taxpayers would lead to rioting in the streets, raised more than a few eyebrows.

Many were trying to understand how such a respected figure and astute operator could lay himself open so easily to charges of hypocrisy. But what was considered to be the real message behind Sir Ronnie’s outburst was being digested last night.

There are growing fears that it signals a carefully calculated assault by Prime Minister-in-waiting Brown on the super-rich entrepreneurs who have made Britain their base.

Reluctant to raise his head above the battlements himself, he has instead groomed his faithful poodle Sir Ronnie for the role of attack dog.

Although apparently unwilling to take on the City’s wealth creators during his decade as Chan­cellor, concerns are growing that Mr Brown may be orchestrating a campaign against them as he makes his final preparations to replace Tony Blair on Wednesday.

If true, it would signal a return to what Left-wingers in his party refer to as traditional Labour values.

But the consequences for the country could be severe if those who have enjoyed success in the UK over the last decade, and created billions of pounds in wealth in the process, decide the regime is not favourable and move to another jurisdiction.

City observers believe that Sir Ronnie is the ideal messenger for Mr Brown. That the godfather of venture capitalism should turn on his former colleagues so soon after retirement has puzzled many and is being interpreted as evidence of Mr Brown’s charisma and powers of persuasion.

One senior City source said: “It seems that Ronnie Cohen has been breathing too deeply the air of the Despatch Box and Downing Street in the same way that Lord Levy did around Tony Blair. Sud­denly he has become a big shot with a close relationship with the man who is due to become the most powerful person in the country. But the reality is that he looks like Brown’s puppet. It is very demeaning for him.

“The City is concerned that this is the start of an assault by Mr Brown on the business of wealth creation. There is nothing wrong with encouraging people who are willing to take a risk and create wealth in the process using Britain as a base.

“These people have provided a huge shot in the arm to British business over the last decade and the country would suffer a huge loss if they were to leave because the political climate was un­favourable. But that is what could happen if Mr Brown makes life difficult for them and seeks to curtail their activities. They may earn vast salaries but they also create wealth for everyone’s benefit and if the system of taxation in Britain helps that process that should not be a cause for complaint.”

More than a decade ago when he was Labour’s shadow chancellor Mr Brown pledged to crackdown on tax avoidance if he was elected to office. Since then, say critics, despite assurances and a Treasury review launched five years ago, nothing has been done. In this time the number of people claiming non-domicile tax status, which means they do not pay tax on earnings outside the UK, has almost doubled to 112,000.

There is a growing belief that senior Treasury officials – despite saying the review is still “on­going” – have privately concluded that “non-doms” would leave Britain rather than pay tax if the system was changed.

Sir Ronnie, who owns a £15million house in London, a flat in New York and a villa in the South of France, came to England as a child when his Jewish family left Egypt in the face of persecution from President Nasser.

He has repeatedly refused to reveal whether he has non-domicile status. His spokes­man says “he pays a lot of tax in the UK to the UK”.