Small wonder that Tory leader David Cameron publicly rowed back on his inheritaance tax cut for millionaires in last week’s televised debate – Lib Dem research released today shows the Tories’ promise would:
- cost £6bn over the course of the next Parliament;
- is aimed at the wealthiest 0.8% of estates in the UK; and
- would benefit 3,000 of the wealthiest estates in the country every year by almost £250,000
As Vince Cable points out:
At a time when the gap between the richest and poorest is so great, it beggars belief that David Cameron wants to give the wealthiest estates a £6bn give away. The Tories are showing where their priorities really lie.
“This tax pledge is grossly unfair, only helps the wealthiest households and costs £6bn at a time when the public finances are in a perilous state. A vote for David Cameron is not one for fairness and change. It’s a vote for more of the same.
“Only the Liberal Democrats are fully committed to creating a fair tax system. We are the only party that stands for fairness and not division.”
Not only will the Tories’ tax policies benefit only the richest, but – as the Institite for Fiscal Studies made clear last week – they are unaffordable. The IFS stated the Tories would have to reverse half their £6bn tax cuts because they their figures don’t add up.
In stark contrast to the Tories’ tax-cuts for millionaires, the Lib Dems propose a tax-cut which will benefit ordinary voters by lifting the income tax threshold to £10,000. The IFS confirmed last week that the Lib Dems’ tax plans, alone among the three major parties, added up.
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5 Comments
The Tory policy though appears to have a lot of support, even among those considerably less off than those who will benefit. The argument that it is only fair to be allowed to pass on one’s wealth to children is a powerful one that seems to resonate with much of the electorate.
Unforunately as the polls are making increasingly clear, the British public aren’t all that interested in fairness.
Would one of those estates be George Osbornes’ by any chance?? Hmm… .
Surely though this is something to put on a billboard? Perhaps split-screen with what they’d have to cut to pay for this, or ‘at the same time as wanting to cut X, the tories want to give £6bn to the richest people in the country’
Cameron would benefit personally by £10m+ if inheritance tax was abolished. He should declare his interest!