Tag Archives: tax cuts (Lib Dem)

Tom Papworth

Opinion: Fiscal consolidation and the Liberal Democrats

By Tom Papworth | Thu 12th March 2015 - 11:23 am

Newly minted coins by James Cridland james.cridland.net
Over the past few days, questions have emerged about the Liberal Democrats’ proposals for fiscal consolidation. Liberal Reform felt it would therefore be helpful to clarify what the challenges are, to explain how some of the figures are derived and to help people understand what the scale of the problem is.

Which deficit are we cutting and how much does it cost?

All three political parties have committed to eliminating the budget deficit over the next parliament. There are two things that divide the parties, however:

  • The speed of the consolidation – in what year will the budget be balanced
  • The definition of the “budget deficit.”

The Liberal Democrats have committed to eliminate the budget deficit by 2018-19. The Labour Party have postponed consolidation to 2020 and the Conservatives are being vague about when in the next parliament the budget will balance. The Lib Dems position reflects current government plans.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 33 Comments
Stephen Tall

The graph which shows why the Lib Dem policy of raising the personal allowance is the wrong priority

By Stephen Tall | Tue 2nd December 2014 - 7:55 am

Here’s a graph which should make Lib Dems who continue to advocate increasing the personal allowance as an effective way to help low- and middle-income earners sit up and pay attention.

It’s from the Resolution Foundation’s report, Missing the target: tax cuts and low to middle income Britain, published yesterday.

What it shows is which households gain from the party’s policy to increase the threshold at which income tax is payable to £12,500 over the course of the next parliament. As you can see, those households which benefit most are at the wealthier end of the spectrum; the poorest 20% benefit least.

res fdn tax cuts lib dem graph 1

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 46 Comments
NewsHound

LibLink: Giles Wilkes – Tax cuts are exactly what we don’t need

By NewsHound | Thu 16th October 2014 - 9:10 am

In the Financial Times today, Lib Dem blogger (turned FT leader writer) Giles Wilkes – former special adviser to Vince Cable and chief economist at liberal think-tank CentreForum – lays into the party’s flagship manifesto commitment to raise the personal allowance:

Giving hundreds of pounds to millions of people is rather popular. Since this is what raising the income tax threshold implies, it is no shock that both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties want it in their manifestos. Sadly it is an idea that gets worse with each passing year.

A commitment to “take people out of tax” first emerged in 2008 at a Lib Dem conference. Strategically it was an astute move, threading between the Conservatives’ preference for inheritance tax cuts and Labour’s obsession with doing everything through welfare. It showed Nick Clegg, Lib Dem leader, wrestling his spending-obsessed party towards a more economically liberal philosophy.

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged | 16 Comments
Stephen Tall

Cameron’s conference: Giveaway budgets are dead! Long live giveaway speeches!

By Stephen Tall | Thu 2nd October 2014 - 8:45 am

David CameronPoliticians don’t do giveaway budgets any more. It seems just too blatant to ‘bribe’ voters a matter of weeks before an election. Instead politicians now do giveaway leaders’ speeches.

Nick Clegg pulled a policy rabbit out of the hat last year by finding a spare £500m a year for free school meals for infants.

And yesterday David Cameron pulled two policy rabbits out of his top hat by announcing tax-cuts for basic-rate taxpayers (extending the personal allowance to £12,500) and higher-rate taxpayers (raising the threshold at which it becomes payable to £50,000) over the course of the next parliament.

This Tory pledge to extend the personal allowance — we really can’t call it a tax-cut for low-earners any more: most of those who benefit come from better-off households — provoked lots of outrage from Lib Dems.

Some pointed out that this was our idea. Forgive me if I excuse myself from joining the chorus of “But we thought of it first!” Others pointed out that it was an unfunded promise. True, but so’s ours.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 18 Comments
Stephen Tall

Lib Dems pledge more tax cuts: after personal allowance raised to £12.5k will also increase National Insurance threshold

By Stephen Tall | Thu 14th August 2014 - 4:10 pm

Danny Alexander by Paul WalterToday’s big announcement from the Lib Dems has been the “plan to cut your tax bill further”. Here’s how The Guardian reports it:

The Liberal Democrats are to burnish their credentials as the tax-cutting party for the low paid by floating the possibility of cutting national insurance contributions for anyone earning below £12,500 a year.

In a challenge to David Cameron, who is facing pressure from Tory MPs to pledge bold tax cuts as the economy grows, the Lib Dems will promise in their general election manifesto to raise the level at which workers start to pay national insurance contributions.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 36 Comments
Nick T

Lib Dems need to take every opportunity to get our message out there

By Nick T | Tue 3rd June 2014 - 5:57 pm

Megaphone, some rights reserved by garrykinghtI’ve made no secret of my view that a change in leadership is likely to do little to revive Liberal Democrat fortunes at the polls given the rather more structural reasons for the decline in support for the party.

But I also recognise that to continue doing and saying the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is not only the definition of insanity but is unlikely to lead to an electoral revival:

We should not simply keep calm and carry on, but nor should we lose our heads either. The long-term success of the party is best served by

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 94 Comments
Nick T

CCHQ seem to be misremembering again – let’s help them out

By Nick T | Thu 1st May 2014 - 9:02 am

Generous-hearted souls that we are here at LDV Towers, we are inclined to think that the good people of Conservative Party HQ have been getting a little confused again in recent days. You see, to mark the end of the month, when many people will be receiving their pay slips, they have been tweeting about the coalition’s success in raising the income tax personal allowance:

This …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | 2 Comments
Advert



Recent Comments

  • User AvatarDenis Loretto 17th Oct - 1:04am
    @Martin I am only too well aware of the lack of any viable idea as to a way forward for the Irish border. What I...
  • User AvatarGlenn 17th Oct - 12:58am
    Frankie. I'm just pointing out the irony of these kinds of youth and internationalist orientated arguments . I don't see Brexit a cliff edge. I...
  • User AvatarKatharine Pindar 17th Oct - 12:33am
    Lorenzo is right to remind everyone of the diversity of reasons which caused people to vote Leave, but it follows that there are no easy...
  • User AvatarKatharine Pindar 16th Oct - 11:58pm
    You are right, Martin, I believe - the Irish Border question does not look capable of a ready solution, despite the fact that the finances...
  • User AvatarMerseyLib 16th Oct - 11:33pm
    One of the very few things I have in common with Jeremy Corbyn is that I've opposed every single "anti-terrorism" legislation since the 80s. Not...
  • User Avatarfrankie 16th Oct - 11:18pm
    Peter, You'd be surprised more poverty means more rough sleepers, he would have more competition and hard as his life is it would get worse....