Episode 2

Nick Robinson examines how governments collect and spend public money. In the second of a two-part series, Nick shows how hard it is for politicians to raise the taxes needed to pay for all the things we want.

In a journey that takes him across Britain, Nick asks if the rich should pay more tax and discovers how little most of us understand about our often baffling tax system. He reveals the perils and pitfalls in store for chancellors who try to meddle with the system, and the ingenious methods they use to get us all to fork out more. Former chancellor Alistair Darling tells him: 'Talking about tax and politics is a bit like talking about sex in public. Everyone knows it's around, but they don't like to talk about it too much.'

In this film, Nick peels back the curtains to reveal the truth about the politics of tax.