Earlier this week we launched our new ‘Stamp Out Stamp Duty’ campaign. We will be holding a stall in Cardiff tomorrow to inform local taxpayers about what this punitive tax means for young people trying to get onto the housing ladder, for growing families and for Welsh jobs. The stall will be located near Aneurin Bevan's statue, Queen Street, and we will be there from 11.00 am. If you are in Cardiff tomorrow, please come and say hello.
There have been recent calls for Stamp Duty, like many other taxes, to be devolved to the Welsh Government. This is in large part due to the Silk Commission and local politicians from all parties wanting to be able to set local taxation rates to - in their words - help the economy.
Carwyn Jones and his team who currently lead the Welsh Government have brazenly stated that they need tax-raising powers to invest in Wales for future growth; but surely that line has been used before when for over a decade the British Government borrowed beyond its means to supposedly invest, only for the country now to have to go through a continued period of austerity. And the Welsh Liberal Democrats have already made their views clear by claiming they would increase the top rate of Stamp Duty to 15 per cent.
Increasing taxes will punish success and will drive higher earners (who typically are business owners or the highly-skilled) away from Wales. As for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, their policy on Stamp Duty will make sure no-one moves, unless they are leaving the country!
When are all politicians in Wales going to understand that devolving tax-raising powers and exploiting hard-working families is going to drive the country backwards rather than forwards?