It was very reassuring as a former candidate to hear clear Lib Dem manifesto commitments being announced in today's budget speech along with the necessary pain of higher taxes. If you remain dubious about the coalition (I do!) you may reassure yourself as follows:
1. From next year pensions will be linked to earnings, reversing a Tory decision from the 1980s which Labour avoided addressing for 13 years. That's a clear Lib Dem manifesto commitment. Our manifesto said we would increase pensions by the same rate as earnings, prices or 2.5%, whichever was bigger in any given year and that's exactly what Osborne said today.
2. From April 2011 the income tax threshold will be raised by £1000 to £7475, taking 880,000 people out of tax altogether. It's not quite the £10,000 we wanted but it is a huge step towards this goal and I am certain it would not have been introduced if there had not been Lib Dems around the Cabinet table.
3. Tax rises for public sector workers will be frozen but those on incomes below £21,000 will see increases of £250 a year. Our manifesto committed us to increases for lower paid public sector workers of around £400 so once again we have got pretty much what we asked for.
4. Capital Gains Tax will be increased to 28% from midnight. That's a surprisingly bold move from this Tory Chancellor but a very welcome one and another LD commitment delivered in large part. Tory right-wingers must be spitting blood.
5. From January 2011 a banking transactions levy will be introduced ahead of a much talked about global agreement over such a plan. That's another Lib Dem manifesto commitment which I doubt a majority Tory government would have introduced on its own.
6. A White Paper will be introduced in the autumn to propose changes to assist regional development, endorsing our manifesto commitments to focus on regional stock markets and local investment. By being in coalition, we have a great chance of getting these proposals adopted.
Like most people I remain deeply sceptical about the coalition but such announcements in a budget reassure me and I hope they reassure you. Lib Dems are delivering in government.
Showing posts with label BUDGET. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BUDGET. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Thursday, 25 March 2010
WHY WON'T THE TORIES SAY WHAT THEY WOULD CUT AND WHEN?
The budget has been received with a degree of acclaim by many commentators, primarily because Chancellor Alastair Darling did not mess up. He has been commended for walking a budgetary tightrope just a few weeks before an election without dropping the patient that is the economy and without slipping up to drop his own party in it so close to polling day. These furiously mixed metaphors aside, the problem with the budget was not what it said but what it didn't say.
Everyone is aware that the country is in a difficult situation. The government has borrowed a huge amount of money to avoid a deep depression and this has been successful so far. The Liberal Democrats have supported this approach as the alternative in this period of major financial upheaval would have been turmoil for millions of people across the country. We have also recognised that the deficit must be addressed as soon as possible, starting this year. The Conservatives have called every economic decision wrong for more than two years, going against economic orthodoxy, most countries around the world and even that champion of profligate spending, the IMF. Yet still they continue to claim the moral high ground and to call for immediate cuts to address the huge budget deficit - although they won't say what they would cut.
And there is the problem: neither the Conservatives nor Labour will say how they will address the deficit. This failure to spell out the tough decisions needed now stands in stark contrast to the approach of the Liberal Democrats under our inspired Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable. Six weeks from polling day only the Liberal Democrats have identified £15bn worth of cuts to be made this year and a clear programme for addressing the deficit, including cancelling the unnecessary replacement for Trident (the existing system can simply continue to be deployed).
(see here for more on this)
As Andrew Grice puts it in today's Independent: "With the honourable exception of the Liberal Democrats, the main parties are still being deliberately vague about specific cuts. Labour's hastily-put-together £11bn package of "savings" relied on our old friend efficiency savings. The Tories claim that leaves more than £20bn of cuts to be found by Labour in the full-scale spending review conveniently delayed until after the election."
That's Labour conveniently accounted for but what of the Tories. Well, if you're happy to vote for a political party which makes vague pledges in the face of an unprecedented deficit, you might wish to vote Tory. If you think that the general blandishments of 'jam tomorrow' are sufficient for an economic policy, George Osborne is your man. If you think that every other major economy has been wrong to borrow today to avoid the worst outcome from this period of turmoil, blue is the colour for you.
Alternatively, if you believe that the man who predicted the credit crunch might be the right person to address the fallout and the recovery, you could do worse than consider Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats. If you think that the party which called for bank nationalisation as a necessary tool to avoid social unrest and stabilise our financial sector got it right, try the Liberal Democrats. And if you think it is better to vote for a party which makes it absolutely clear that we face difficult times but which sets out clearly how it plans to address them, think about the Liberal Democrats.
The adventure is over for David Cameron's Conservatives. They have failed to persuade the electorate and they have been found out.
Everyone is aware that the country is in a difficult situation. The government has borrowed a huge amount of money to avoid a deep depression and this has been successful so far. The Liberal Democrats have supported this approach as the alternative in this period of major financial upheaval would have been turmoil for millions of people across the country. We have also recognised that the deficit must be addressed as soon as possible, starting this year. The Conservatives have called every economic decision wrong for more than two years, going against economic orthodoxy, most countries around the world and even that champion of profligate spending, the IMF. Yet still they continue to claim the moral high ground and to call for immediate cuts to address the huge budget deficit - although they won't say what they would cut.
And there is the problem: neither the Conservatives nor Labour will say how they will address the deficit. This failure to spell out the tough decisions needed now stands in stark contrast to the approach of the Liberal Democrats under our inspired Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable. Six weeks from polling day only the Liberal Democrats have identified £15bn worth of cuts to be made this year and a clear programme for addressing the deficit, including cancelling the unnecessary replacement for Trident (the existing system can simply continue to be deployed).
(see here for more on this)
As Andrew Grice puts it in today's Independent: "With the honourable exception of the Liberal Democrats, the main parties are still being deliberately vague about specific cuts. Labour's hastily-put-together £11bn package of "savings" relied on our old friend efficiency savings. The Tories claim that leaves more than £20bn of cuts to be found by Labour in the full-scale spending review conveniently delayed until after the election."
That's Labour conveniently accounted for but what of the Tories. Well, if you're happy to vote for a political party which makes vague pledges in the face of an unprecedented deficit, you might wish to vote Tory. If you think that the general blandishments of 'jam tomorrow' are sufficient for an economic policy, George Osborne is your man. If you think that every other major economy has been wrong to borrow today to avoid the worst outcome from this period of turmoil, blue is the colour for you.
Alternatively, if you believe that the man who predicted the credit crunch might be the right person to address the fallout and the recovery, you could do worse than consider Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats. If you think that the party which called for bank nationalisation as a necessary tool to avoid social unrest and stabilise our financial sector got it right, try the Liberal Democrats. And if you think it is better to vote for a party which makes it absolutely clear that we face difficult times but which sets out clearly how it plans to address them, think about the Liberal Democrats.
The adventure is over for David Cameron's Conservatives. They have failed to persuade the electorate and they have been found out.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
LIB DEM PLANS TO CUT THE BUDGET DEFICIT WIN PLAUDITS IN THE PRESS
Today's Independent says the following about one party's clear, costed plans to reduce the budget deficit as quickly as possible:
'It is ironic that financial markets seem jittery over the fiscal consequences of a hung parliament because the Liberal Democrats, who could hold the balance of power in such circumstances, actually have the most detailed deficit reduction plans of all three main parties.
'The party's Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, has proposed scrapping Trident, a civil service pay freeze, abolishing regional development agencies and reducing tax credits for wealthier families – cuts considerably more extensive than anything Alistair Darling or George Osborne have yet dared to present to the public. The Liberal Democrats have even stepped back from one of their most cherished and popular policies – scrapping university tuition fees – in deference to the bleakness of the fiscal outlook.'
The article goes on to note that the traditional view of the LDs as a party of high spenders is just plain wrong. I cam across this the other day and it some convincing on my part to assure people that we aren't.
'It is ironic that financial markets seem jittery over the fiscal consequences of a hung parliament because the Liberal Democrats, who could hold the balance of power in such circumstances, actually have the most detailed deficit reduction plans of all three main parties.
'The party's Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, has proposed scrapping Trident, a civil service pay freeze, abolishing regional development agencies and reducing tax credits for wealthier families – cuts considerably more extensive than anything Alistair Darling or George Osborne have yet dared to present to the public. The Liberal Democrats have even stepped back from one of their most cherished and popular policies – scrapping university tuition fees – in deference to the bleakness of the fiscal outlook.'
The article goes on to note that the traditional view of the LDs as a party of high spenders is just plain wrong. I cam across this the other day and it some convincing on my part to assure people that we aren't.
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