Will a Non-Dom tax kill the goose that laid the golden egg,? questions Countess du Ruel. My fellow Non-Dom says London’s status as a global financial centre will be lost.

On the one hand, prices have rocketed since the super wealthy have entrenched here, making schools, houses, restaurants, etc. more expensive for everyone.

On the other hand, this tax hits not just the super wealthy, but normal non-doms who have lived here for years and are not billionaires. These include academics, professionals, doctors, writers, retired city workers and fairly ordinary people. A distinction should be made between these groups. The excessively rich can easily afford this tax. A windfall tax for billionaires sounds good. Also, the oligarchs who don’t have to pay tax anywhere should come under the axe. Let’s agree that there are Non.Doms and Non-Doms and levee taxes accordingly, not just one tax per head which would hit the moderately rich as well as the showy-off-y rich.

Bob Wigley, the chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, Middle East and Africa calls the proposal ill-conceived. “These measures were partly aimed at the non-domiciled billionaires.” They could drive away ordinary talent coming to live in London.

It may be too late to put the “genie back into the bottle.” Herds of hedge fund managers are galloping toward Zurich. Maybe London shouldn’t be a global financial centre, which could mean its ruin. But let’s not tar and feather everyone with the same brush. Not all Non-Doms are billionaires!