So, asks Will Straw, newly selected Labour
PPC for Rossendale and Darwen…
“if the Lib Dems are so keen to reinstate
the 50p tax, why did they stand by and let Osborne cut it?”
Oh dear.
It seems to have eluded Mr Straw that we
are in a coalition.
That cutting the band from 50p to 45p was
the quid pro quo we demanded for taking 2.7m people out of tax altogether, and
reducing taxes for a further 24m.
That Labour could have done the same but in
fact chose to abolish the 10p tax band, thus increasing the tax burden on the
poorest.
That the Labour party had 13 years to introduce
the 50p tax band; they managed it for just the last 6 weeks they were in power.
That the current top rate of tax is 5p in
the £ more than the top rate under Labour for 12 years and 8 months of their
tenure.
That having an aspiration to continue to
tax the wealthiest, not the poorest, is something you might expect Labour to
laud.
And that Labour actually seems quite keen
on other Lib Dem tax policies. The Mansion Tax springs to mind.
Sure, Will Straw is just politicking.
But he’ll have to do better than that.
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