Video also available on YouTube.
Jo Swinson MP featured on Channel 4’s Political Slot last night, explaining how the Liberal Democrats in government are still on the side of their voters and supporters:
Nearly two years ago, Liberal Democrats chose to do the right thing for the good of the country in a time of crisis.
Liberal Democrats didn’t come into politics to make cuts, but with the economy on the brink of collapse we knew we had to take the difficult decisions to get the debt under control and the country back on track.
But there is more to this Coalition Government than cuts.
We’re all feeling the squeeze, but Liberal Democrats are in government, on your side. We’re offering you real practical help whether you are young or old.
The best way to give children a fair start in life is to help those who need it most when they need it most — in the crucial early years and through their school lives.
That’s why Liberal Democrats are giving free early years education to all disadvantaged two-year-olds in England and extending it for all three and four year olds.
And the Liberal Democrat Pupil Premium is leading a revolution in schools, making sure children get the support they need to stop them falling behind in class.
For those a bit older, we’re determined to make sure young people have the skills they need to help them enter the world of work. That’s why Nick Clegg launched the £1bn Youth Contract to give all 18 to 24 year olds the opportunity to earn or learn. And it’s why Vince Cable is delivering more apprenticeships than we’ve ever had before.
For those of you in work, raising families, and struggling with bills that seem to go up and up: Liberal Democrats are on your side. We’ve cut your taxes by £200, with another £130 tax cut coming next month. And we’re pushing to go much further – putting more money back in your pockets. Liberal Democrat tax cuts, not for the rich – for 23 million working people. And if your working life is over, Liberal Democrats are helping you too. Thanks to the Liberal Democrat pensions triple lock, those receiving the basic state pension will get the most generous rise in a generation: an increase of £5.30 a week.
We know times are tough. That’s why, as we clear up the mess the Labour government left behind, Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government are determined to do the right thing and give you real help in tough times.
Liberal Democrats are in government, on your side.
Follow @LibDemVoice on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Reviewing the general election
Weekly Road Report - West End Ward #dundeewestend
A quiet conference
From Creeting St Peter to the (Liberal Democrat) world...
The Joy of Six 1268
Labour's post-election (non-)honeymoon, part 2: The Week in Polls
On the 20th anniversary of the Orange Book
Mick Dyer
Steve Trevethan
Tim Oliver
Simon R
Roland
6 Comments
Ms Swinson comments….. “Nearly two years ago, Liberal Democrats chose to do the right thing for the good of the country in a time of crisis.” Utterly wrong. In my opinion the LibDem leadership made precisely the wrong move in supporting a Conservative government. Wrong for the country and wrong for the Liberal Democrat party. The LibDem leadership is doing to the LibDem party what Lloyd George did for the Liberal party, and I fear the result will be as catastrophic. A great pity, and so unnecessary.
“Jo Swinson MP featured on Channel 4′s Political Slot last night, explaining how the Liberal Democrats in government are still on the side of their voters and supporters:”
On Question Time last week it looked to me like Jo Swinson was firmly on the side of John Redwood.
“For those of you in work, raising families, and struggling with bills that seem to go up and up: Liberal Democrats are on your side. We’ve cut your taxes by £200, with another £130 tax cut coming next month.”
Cut whose taxes? Certainly not mine – I’m far from rich but I’ve just seen my child tax credit disapear to the tune of £520 pa. My weekly grocery shop is frequently over £150 thanks in large part to 20% VAT.
In fact the government’s own impact analysis (published in the last budget report) showed that every single income decile, rich and poor alike, is paying a lot more in net tax as a result of this government than they were before. There are no winners here, only various shades of loser.
So please, Jo Swinson and the rest of the Lib Dems – stop this “we have cut your taxes” nonsense and actually be straight with the British public.
We Know the economy was in a mess and Labour handed it overbut, apart from Vince’s warnings about debt, which specific expenditure items implemented by Labour did we oppose and how much lower would the deficit have been if our suggestions had been implemented? I must say i get irked when I hear Lib Dems intoning the Tory Mantra.
Can any of us feel comfortable being associated with these benefit cuts? JKGalbraith had it in a nutshell “The poor need the sick and the rich the carrot”
@Stuart
“My weekly grocery shop is frequently over £150 thanks in large part to 20% VAT.”
I don’t exactly know what you buy but given that meat, fish, fruit & veg, culinary herbs, cereals, nuts & pulses, food oils, cake mixes, canned and frozen food and most breads, cakes and biscuits are *zero rated* for VAT then I suspect the global market is actually more responsible for your food bills than the government.
(see http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_PublicNoticesAndInfoSheets&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_CL_000118#P59_3468 for details)
The raised income tax threshold has (and will more so as it continues to increase) certainly benefited my wife and I. We don’t claim any benefits and only have our earned wage to live on. The raised threshold will give us a net extra £660+ per year – which we can put towards private mental health care for her to make up for the poor amount of NHS provision locally. As the saying goes ‘Your Mileage May Vary’ when it comes to tax changes but it’s helped us and it would be wrong to say that no one has been helped by having Lib Dems in Government.
@Richard ” The raised threshold will give us a net extra £660+ per year”
No it won’t. The government’s own figures refute this.
Take a look at chart A.2 on p.76 of the last budget document (http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_complete.pdf). You will notice that for all points on the income scale, everybody is paying more net tax as a result of this government’s budgets. Even if you do not receive any benefits or tax credits, it is clear that for all income groups the negative effects of higher indirect taxes (the dark green boxes) more than cancel out any “tax cuts” from the higher thresholds (the light grey boxes).
These are the government’s own figures, so why is Jo Swinson going around telling people that the government has cut their taxes?
Incidentally, I hope all those LDV writers who continually ask us to give the Lib Dems credit for preserving the 50% tax rate have taken note of Vince Cable’s comments tonight, which pretty much spell the end of the 50% rate.
@Stuart
“No it won’t. The government’s own figures refute this.”
With respect, I think I’m best placed to work out how much money I have. A graph of effects on broad groups of people doesn’t disprove that. Our household has been unaffected by changes in benefits etc. and VAT changes have largely had little or no impact on us due to most of our expenses being on things that are zero-rated. As I said, Your Mileage May Vary.