Why are Apple products so much more expensive in the UK?

Well I've always noticed that Apple products on the USA Apple store website is cheaper than the Apple product on the UK website. And I know that you have to consider tax and the difference between pounds and dollars.
But when the iPhone 5s and 5c came out and I saw that the iPhone 5c starts at $99 on the USA Apple website but on the Apple UK website it starts from £469.
Those two prices are on totally different planets.
But why?

Added (1). And could I have proper answers please. Or is it really because we're being cheated out of our money?

Because UK citizens are used to having their money wasted (by the government).

The US price is subsidized vs the UK price which is not. Those are the prices that they use on the respective websites for a while now.

The $99 price in the US is a downpayment (upfront payment) on a two year contract. It is not a case of paying the $99 and that's it. Some contracts in the UK have an upfront payment too; for example, you might pay £99 or more upfront on a top end phone, then pay so much each month for two years. So the $99 on the US iPhone is an upfront payment, not the entire amount.

Apple have always tried to keep prices more or less even across countries. But the pound dropped in price, and now look at the price of things, the uk price is a lot more than in the usa. Fcpx uk £299 in the usa $299, if you look at logic pro x uk £199 in the usa $199, so the solution is to just wait until you go for a holiday to america, and then purchase your apple products, ship the box back to your home address with a declaration that its a box, worth $15 or something, then take the iPad or mac book pro back with you in the suitcase, and just say you took it with you.

Apple have always tried to keep prices more or less even across countries. But the pound dropped in price, and now look at the price of things, the uk price is a lot more than in the usa. Fcpx uk £299 in the usa $299, if you look at logic pro x uk £199 in the usa $199, so the solution is to just wait until you go for a holiday to america, and then purchase your apple products, ship the box back to your home address with a declaration that its a box, worth $15 or something, then take the iPad or mac book pro back with you in the suitcase, and just say you took it with you.