Sep 2008 15

Tax cuts back on the political agenda as the Liberal Democrats move onto Conservative turf2

A new report has revealed that 35 out of the Liberal Democrats 53 English seats could be lost to the Conservatives unless they promise tax cuts. Coincidentally Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg has promised £20 billion in tax cuts condemning the Conservatives tax and spend plans as “unimaginative” and promising the Lib Dems will be “more creative”. The question is will the two main parties match the Lib Dems new pledge of tax cuts?

Liberal Democrat conferences are not usually the place where important new debates occur. Previous conferences have debated the issue of whether goldfish could be won at local fairs, how to protect the earth from asteroids and whether 16 year olds should have access to internet pornography. All weighty subjects no doubt but not priority issues for the average British citizen.

In short, Lib Dem conferences are usually snooze fests where barmy socialists and ultra libertarians battle it out for the right to control a party which has not seen power in eighty years. However, at this conference, a serious debate about the balance between funding essential services and relieving the burden on struggling families is beginning to occur. The Liberal Democrats have actually begun to talk about reducing the size of the Government and cutting tax and this is to be welcomed.

The two main parties should take note and respond. The Labour party is facing an electoral wipe-out with Conservative poll leads averaging 20 per cent. If the party does not take decisive action to respond to the needs of Britain’s struggling families they will be punished at the polls. Meanwhile, the Conservatives are eager to preserve their momentum in the face of this bold Lib Dem move onto Conservative turf. The Conservatives have been timid in their approach to tax cuts because they fear a repeat of the 2001 and 2005 elections when Labour successfully portrayed any attempt to reduce the tax burden as a secret Tory plan to sack thousands of Nurses, Doctors and Teachers. However, it seems the mood has changed.

The majority of people now recognise the amount of government waste and believe they can spend their money better than the Government. More than two-thirds of the population believe that the Government wastes one-sixth of the money it spends and over half think that figure is one fifth of the money it spends. Tax is now third on the list of concerns of British voters. This is a very different Britain to the one that massively endorsed Brown’s 2002 national insurance tax increases to fund the NHS.

Taxpayers will reward any party that recognises the call for lower taxes and responds accordingly. The Liberal Democrat plan is not perfect. There are many flaws in it. The pledge to soak the rich by closing tax loopholes could cost this country dear by driving away wealth creators. However, a debate about significant  tax reduction has begun and for this the Lib Dems are to be congratulated.

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  • Hardeep_Singh

    Tax cuts for the sake of it aren’t as effective. What the Lib “bless them” Democrats need is a gameplan both short (plenty in politics) along with a long (not so plentiful) term in the pipeline. It’s no good having tax cuts and not knowing what you’re going to do with them or simply channeling the money elsewhere into another silly social scheme. I fear that the conviction to carry it through just isn’t there and thus all that will be left is the simple pre conference media message (which in itself says alot about modern cuddly feely politics).
    If Lib Dem councils aren’t delivery locally then how can they hope to govern politically?
    Mr. Clegg the politcial stage is far from some easy school play type of production. With your tax cuts what are you going to do to fulfill your still bloated social agenda who I fear is going to pay for that. Perhaps one sector of society will have it’s tax burden cut leaving another with an increased burden or just simply hike taxes in the next year to make up for it.
    No good giving my best friend a Birthday present only for me to ask for it back the next year! Hello Dr. Livingstone calling the delluded spear jangling tribe of politicians.

  • http://notnews.today.com/ David Gerard

    I was indeed most amused by the detailed tax plan they presented just as if they had a hope in hell of implementing it.