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Lib-Dems launch tax cut battle for Middle England
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent16.09.08
Nick Clegg will tomorrow promise tax cuts for 28 million Britons after turning the Liberal Democrats' guns firmly on to the Tories.
In the wake of a historic shift in policy to become a tax cutting party, the Lib-Dem leader will steel his activists for an unprecedented battle against the Conservatives for Middle England voters at the next general election.
Marching his party on to traditional Tory territory, Mr Clegg was due to tell the Lib- Dem conference in Bournemouth: "My aim is to cut taxes so that nine out of ten British taxpayersare better off." He will also confront David Cameron over who is leading the party of "fairness", accusing the Tories of only promising limited tax cuts for the wealthy.
"This week, we pledged together to deepen our fair tax cuts. To make them fairer still," he was set to say in his keynote speechwhich will delight many activists by signalling big tax rises for the rich.
"I want this to be the most progressive- - most redistributive - tax plan ever put forward by a British political party."
Those on low incomes would benefit most from the Lib-Dem tax cuts but Mr Clegg's aides stressed that millions of middle-income families and individuals would also be better off.
Arguing that lower tax will help Britain deal with the threatened recession, Mr Clegg will brand Gordon Brown and Mr Cameron as "too flaky" to take decisive action on fiscal policy.
"The other parties say tax cuts aren't possible," he was set to say. "But that's because they're too flaky to take the tough choices to make tax cuts possible. Too weak to trim back on wasteful spending. Too in hock to wealthy non-doms to threaten higher taxes for the rich.
"Liberal Democrats are not afraid of touch choices."
Their strategy is to push Mr Clegg, 41, and Treasury spokesman Vince Cable as a sounder political duo compared with Mr Cameron and shadow Chancellor George Osborne.
The leader's speech will also lay into the Prime Minister for his handling of the economy.
Mr Clegg's Spanish wife Miriam is expected to play a more prominent role in the run-up to the election, which the Lib-Dems will fight on an agenda of tax cuts, civil liberties, the environment and political reform.
The party's president Simon Hughes told the Evening Standard earlier this week that the cut in the overall tax burden was likely to be around £5 billion.
The Lib-Dems aim to make £20 billion of savings in public spending with measures including ditching ID cards, scrapping the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, a shake-up of NHS IT and ending child tax credits for the better off - with around a quarter of this funding tax cuts.
Separately, they are proposing to cut 4p off the basic rate of tax, funded by around £8 billion of green taxes, between £6 billion and £7 billion from ending preferential pension relief for higher earners and a series of measures to close "loopholes" benefiting the well-off, big business and savers - worth an estimated £5 billion.
However, the tax cuts will be seen as largely defensive in the face of the surge in support for Mr Cameron which is threatening to wipe out dozens of Lib Dem MPs at the next election, including a number in the capital.
Mr Clegg is pinning his hopes on winning seats mainly from Labour by targeting 50 of its MPs in vulnerable constituencies.
Reader views (17)
Does anyone bother reading or care what the LibDems spout, it's all pretty irrelevant bearing in mind the odds on them having any influence in Parliament
- Mark, London, UK
The LibDems are irrelevant in British politics, save for supporting NuLabour in their quest to destroy British democracy. They can make whatever promises they wish, as long as they remain committed to wholesale sellout to the EU, they'll never be in a position to implement any of them.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
I warned Chris Hune about the outcome of putting punitive taxes on so-called 4x4's when you tried it on for taxing stationery cars in Richmond. It is a nasty divisive measure which will raise very little money but will lose the Liberals a lot of votes. Chris Hune's in particular. Take a look at the seats you hold by a very small margin. How many you do so by a thread. Then look again at the Liberals 4x4 issue the Liberals voting for the Lisbon Treaty. Bad medicine. You all have you knickers in a twist. Cameron is now steering away such measure very rapidly. But you Libs can talk and talk until the cows come home full well knowing that it will all come to nothing. It never does.
- Albert Hall, hove england
Only a numty would suggest or support this. Cars in general and and SUVs in particular make a trivial contribution to CO2 emissions. Coal fired power stations are a much bigger source, yet China is opening 1 a day with no coment from the LibDems or other feeble minded people.
Also, have these people forgotten that Landrover (SUV Producer) is a British employer and helps our balance of payments. Who helps them when this policy puts them on the dole? And for what? - A little bit of green dogma.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants
;The state should hand over gbp1,ooo pounds to purchasers of certain cars; The state has itself no money, only taxpayers money.
- Stephen Burgwin, birmingham, uk
Zzzz! Taxing 4x4s is so last year. Look what happened to Livingstone when he proposed it.
Fact: 4x4s (or rather SUVs, which is what is meant) are already heavily taxed as they mostly sit in road tax Band G. That's my problem for choosing to support a British manufacturer.
Fact: SUVs use more fuel than "ordinary" cars, so the Chancellor gets lots more fuel duty, which is more tax. Again, my issue for choosing a Land Rover.
Lib-Dems, go back to your constituencies and prepare for another 5 years in the wilderness.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
Mike Stern, you really don't understand the concept very well, do you? By taxing the most polluting vehicles at the highest level, demand would plummet for these vehicles. I'm fairly sure that this would "encourag[e] car manufacturers to make more efficient cars" - unless I'm mistaken of course?
As for the other Mark - I think you failed to notice at the start of the article that the Lib Dems have indeed proposed to give money (£1000, no less) to subsidise lesser-polluting vehicles.
The only way you can really cajole a business into doing anything is to give them an economic incentive. Seems like quite a smart policy to me.
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall
We have a 4x4 because we have a family. We decided to buy such a car so that we can take summer holidays and travel by car rather than flying. We travel to work by train so our car actually does very few miles. To tax us at such a level would be very unfair.
- Anon, london
So, people will get £1,000 from the state when they drive new Band A cars. What about people who walk, cycle and use public transport? Don't they get anything? I'm all for taxing morons off our roads - but why people to drive on them?
- Austen, London
The usual lack of logical thinking from politicians who cannot tell the difference between vehicles with large, highly polluting engines and fitted with four wheel drive and technologically smarter low-polluting and fuel-eficient vehicles also fiited with four-wheel drive. Hybrid two-wheel drive vehicles actually have an unacceptably-large carbon footprint when the manufacture and renewal of batteries is factored in and hybrid fuel eficiency is not too flash either, compared with vehicles fitted with the latest diesel engines. Tonne-miles per litre is rarely discussed by politicians as the label '4x4' is an easy stereotype to vilify and one which, I suspect, works on the politics of envy rather than empirical evidence.
Far better to rank vehicles on their tonne-miles per litre and charge road tax accordingly, thus encouraging the use of fuel-eficient vehicles, although it must be pointed out that ineficient fuel mileage already carries a large financial penalty.
- Kiwi Expat, London, UK
After a LibDem meltdown has been forecast, Norman Half-Baked & co simply appear to want to accelerate political suicide.
People need no additional incentive to buy fuel efficient vehicles, as we are already paying five times over the going rate for emissions through fuel taxes.
If they truly care about the environment they should do something about dirty diesel belching buses and trains, or landscape disfiguring wind turbines.
- Jools, London
Surely this is gesture politics at it's most blatant, does Mr. Baker (should that be Half-Baker?) really think a couple of grand on car tax is going to stop people who have just spent £50K upwards on a vehicle?
Incidentally it might cause an increase in personally imported cars, these benefit from a very advantageous tax regime, even those with 7 or 8 litre engines.
- John, London, UK
Surely this is gesture politics at it's most blatant, does Mr. Baker (should that be Half-Baker?) really think a couple of grand on car tax is going to stop people who have just spent £50K upwards on a vehicle?
Incidentally it might cause an increase in personally imported cars, these benefit from a very advantageous tax regime, even those with 7 or 8 litre engines.
- John, London, UK
there is no "green" viable car for a family with 3 children that ticks the boxes of safety , reliability and choice.
Instead families are being penalised , public transport is expensive , unreliable and not safe enough to transport 3 children. In these financial times political parties should be looking to ease the burden not increase it. If they need money for green issues raise the tax on cigarettes so that these disgusting non bio degradable butts that are everywhere are reduced helping the health system at the same time.
- Mark, London
The Lib Dems have got about as much chance of being elected as I have, but it's dangerous talk. Why are the government not offering the manufacturers and consumers incentives to buy hybrids or low-emmission vehicles? You can use the carrot as well as the stick.
- Mark, London
Easy way to identify Lib-Dems with 4x4's or large cars at conference: those sitting on their hands and looking uncomfortable. Incidentally, I assume Mr Baker uses neither a large vehicle nor a 4x4, otherwise he might come in for some stick.
- Matt, london
Yet another 'try to win votes by appearing to be green' policy. It didnt work for Livingstone in London. If the LibDems are that concerned about cars polluting the environment, why arent they encouraging car manufacturers to make more efficient cars instead of just taxing motorists and wasting the money? As for Norway, the cost of living is more expensive than the UK, so nothing to champion there.
- Mike Stern, london
