10 Responses

1. Oliver Johnstone says:

   March 7, 2012 at 2:13 pm

   Can you substantiate with hard evidence that the Tories were planning to drop the 50p tax rate and that it was prevented by the Liberals?

   If not please remove it as it would then be a bare faced lie.

   Reply
2. Iain Roberts says:

   March 7, 2012 at 2:17 pm

   Hi Oliver – I think a quick search of the news will show that there has been, and remains, a great deal of pressure from within the Conservative party to drop the 50p tax rate. I hear senior Tory politicians talking about it at least weekly on the radio.

   To give just one example:
   http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2012/01/tax-rate-50p-2015-reports

   To quote from that article:

   David Cameron and George Osborne have always maintained that the top rate of tax, introduced by Gordon Brown in 2010, was a temporary measure. It was suggested in August that it could be cut to 45p as soon as this year or next.

   …the 50p tax rate is likely to remain for the duration of the parliament. The Lib Dems will not accept the abolition of the top rate unless it is replaced with some kind of wealth tax.

   Reply
3. Oliver Johnstone says:

   March 7, 2012 at 4:58 pm

   So your source for this great claim are unnamed ‘tories’ and the New Statesman.

   Very convincing…..

   Reply
4. Iain Roberts says:

   March 7, 2012 at 5:39 pm

   That’s not what I said, is it Oliver. A quick Google search reveals a wealth of sources, one of which I linked to and quoted.

   Reply
5. John Hartley says:

   March 7, 2012 at 6:21 pm

   We’ve all heard senior Tories talking about scrapping the 50p rate. Let’s hope that if the Lib Dems have managed to block it, then they continue to be able to do so. It really would be offensive for the Tories to be looking after their mates in the City while imposing pay cuts on low paid public sector workers.

   Reply
6. Mark Pack says:

   March 7, 2012 at 7:16 pm

   Glad you like it Iain!

   Reply
7. Oliver Johnstone says:

   March 8, 2012 at 9:04 am

   Report in the FT saying Lib Dems willing to drop 50p tax? Looks like your graphic is out of date or at least soon to be.

   Reply
8. Iain Roberts says:

   March 8, 2012 at 10:15 am

   Quite right, Oliver, it may be.

   The Lib Dems want the rich to pay their fair share. So far the wealthiest are paying more than the poorest (in both %age and absolute terms) and are paying a lot more than under Labour.

   If we can come up with an alternative that does a better job of that than the 50p tax rate, and get the Conservatives to agree to it, then the tax rate might well change. It’s the outcome that’s important.

   Reply
9. Oliver Johnstone says:

   March 8, 2012 at 1:18 pm

   So the point is you haven’t prevented anything really. A mansion tax will hit elderley people’s savings – people who have acted prudently throughout their working lives. Remember property is not liquid but taxes on it have to be paid out of liquid assets.

   Surely we should be encouraging people to act prudently throughout their lives – especially given these people already pay higher Council Tax and higher income taxes?

   It will also be much easier to avoid than an income tax threshold.

   Reply
10. Iain Roberts says:

    March 8, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    We’ve prevented, and continue to prevent, moved to reduce the amount of tax paid by the wealthy. The discussion over mansion tax is ongoing, so we’ll have to see what happens.

    Reply