Over at The Independent today, Nick Clegg argues that Labour has no basis on which to claim the ground of fairness any longer. Here’s an excerpt:
Last weekend, Gordon Brown set out his stall, claiming that Labour is the party of fairness in Britain. Their General Election slogan, “A Future Fair for All”, seeks to stake out this territory as their own. But, after 13 years in government, are these claims credible? Gordon Brown also urged people to “take a second look” at Labour. What, then, is Labour’s record on fairness really like?
The slogan itself is old, first used back in 2003. Then, like now, the poorest paid a higher proportion of their income in tax than the richest. But there is a difference: then, the gap was about two percentage points. Now, it is about four percentage points.
In other words, the gap between what the rich and poor pay in tax has doubled. This is a staggering change. If anyone deserved tax cuts in the last seven years, surely it was those who were finding it hardest to make ends meet, not those at the top? …
Labour has no basis on which to claim the ground of fairness any longer. Their record is one of rising inequality and unfairness.
You can read Nick’s article in full here.
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One Comment
This is a good, although overdue, move by Nick. As the Tories come under more scrutiny, we need to prevent disilusioned Labour voters from going back to them as fear of a Tory victory increases.