West Suffolk Liberal Democrats

Clegg calls time on unfair tax system

At the Institute for Government last Friday, the Deputy Prime Minister gave a major speech on tax and supporting working families.

"The tax system," said Nick Clegg, "should be designed to reward effort, enterprise and innovation... and bear down on those things which are bad for our society.
"Attitudes to tax are a good proxy for our deepest political instincts and the three major political traditions in the UK - conservatism, socialism and liberalism - have very distinct approaches."

"The liberal approach, put most simply, is based on a profound commitment to the value of paid work. Citizens are empowered when they can keep the fruits of their own labour. And fiscal liberalism supports taxes on unearned wealth... precisely to lighten taxes on the incomes of hardworking people.

"So the Coalition is calling time on our unfair and out-of-whack tax system.
We've put up Capital Gains Tax; we've reduced tax breaks on pension funds for the very rich; we've clamped down on avoidance - the steps taken already will raise an extra £7bn every year by the end of this parliament. And our priority in government - from the front cover of the Lib Dem manifesto to the pages of the Coalition Agreement - is freeing the lowest-paid from income tax altogether... and cutting income tax for millions of ordinary workers.

"Whether you call them the 'squeezed middle', 'hard-working families', or, as I have, 'alarm clock Britain'… it's the people who whose incomes are too high to qualify for welfare benefits but too low to provide any real financial security who need this extra help. Over the last few decades wage rises have outpaced the increase in the allowance... so that more people have been sucked into the income tax net.

"At the last election my party promised to raise the personal allowance for ordinary taxpayers to £10,000 and I am extremely proud that the Coalition has committed to doing so over the course of this Parliament. I want to make clear that I want the Coalition to go further and faster in delivering the full £10,000 allowance.
Because the pressure on family finances is reaching boiling point … these families cannot be made to wait.

"Delivering the £10,000 personal allowance more quickly will need to be fully funded. But to those who say: we cannot afford to do this. I say: we cannot afford not to do this.

"It is often said that to govern is to choose... and, in particular, to choose whose side you are on. That is especially true when there is no money around. My choice - the Liberal Democrat's choice - is clear: I want to help hard-pressed and hardworking families. If that means asking more from those at the top - so be it.

"We are committed to eliminating the deficit... and eliminate it we will. But I am determined that we do so in a way that is fair...that rebalances our economy...that gives the right people the right rewards.
"People look to the Liberal Democrats to keep this Coalition anchored in the centre ground. They want economic competence, but they want compassion too.
It is our job to make sure this government delivers both."

The ASA ruled that the image used in an advertisement for L'Oréal Paris' Revitalift Repair 10 was altered to change Rachel Weisz's complexion, making it appear smoother and more even. It was judged to be in breach of industry code and "misleadingly exaggerated" the performance of the product.

The advertisement has been banned in its current form and the ASA has warned L'Oréal not to use digital retouching to misrepresent the effect of their products.

Commenting, Jo Swinson said:

"In 2010 there were 1,850 deaths and more than 200,000 injuries on our roads. That's some 600 every day. With mechanical failure already contributing to a significant number of these, the Coalition Government has made the right decision to keep frequent MOT-tests.

"This will also see the system strengthened through a combination of open public data and stronger regulation.

"Liberal Democrats strongly believe road safety should be central to the Coalition Government's transport strategy. I look forward to working with the Secretary of State to further this agenda."

Reacting to the European Council Conclusions on Growth this evening, Guy Verhofstadt,
President of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament said:

"EU leaders have failed in the only area where they could have made concrete progress today. Instead of decisive action they again chose procrastination. After 40 years of waiting, an agreement was found last year on a European patent but we still have to wait another six months for Member States to agree on the seat of the court causing further delay and costing jobs across the Union at a crucial moment."

"Today's figures show that on the whole young people have not been put off by the changes in the student finance system.

"This is due in no small part to the serious effort put in by the Coalition Government and many others in making sure that each young person and their parents knew all the facts about funding higher education.

"In particular, many families clearly now understand that all graduates will pay less each month towards the cost of their university education than they did before.

"There has been a larger drop in the number of older students applying to university. The Government will have to take a serious look at why this has happened, particularly as mature students for the first time also do not have to pay for their university education in advance.

"However, because mature students have more flexibility in when they apply, there are still good opportunities for people looking to start university this year to put in an application."

More power for Scotland

The Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, is determined to move Scotland forward towards greater devolution. As well as delivering the Scotland Bill, he is paving the way towards Home Rule.

In an interview with Liberal Democrat News he said: "These are exciting times for Liberal Democrats. We are leading the charge. The central issue at the moment is the independence referendum, which was in the SNP manifesto at their victory last May. We are clear, however, that they do not have the legal powers necessary [to instigate independence]. We are looking carefully as to how that referendum takes place. My job is to work with the Scottish Government to make sure we can devolve powers that are legal, fair and decisive.

"The referendum must be overseen by the Electoral Commission. On timing, we believe that a referendum needs to take place as soon as possible, as the uncertainty is extremely unhelpful to business."

Combining questions on a ballot paper is complex, and devolution is a separate issue to independence. So, while the Secretary of State is consulting the Scottish people on this, the Coalition government's view is that there should be a simple, straightforward, 'yes-no' question on independence.

"The suggestion of a third option, 'Devo-max' question would not resolve the issue and may well end up in the courts," explained Michael. "For instance, 55 per cent of the people could vote for full independence and 75 per cent plus vote for Devo-max. Alex Salmond believes if that was the result, then full independence would carry the day. Most democratic people would strongly disagree."

"This party has always been in the forefront of the debate for Home Rule," continued Michael. "The Liberal Democrats in the Coalition are delivering greater powers in the Scotland Bill. But the Liberal Democrats are not stopping there. Willie Rennie has asked Ming Campbell to set up a Commission to look at what powers Scotland should have within the UK. This would be similar to the Constitutional Convention, the Scottish Parliament and the Calman legislation for the Scotland Bill. In that way you get common ground and consensus before legislation."

There are a number of important questions the SNP has left unanswered: What regulation would be applied to Scottish banks and who would enforce it? Would they be prepared to buy out the UK Government's stake in RBS? Which currency would Scotland adopt? What would happen to Scottish membership of international organisations (including the EU), our armed forces, pension liabilities? What are the bottom line costs of independence?

As Nick Clegg said last Sunday on BBC's The Andrew Marr Show, "You would have thought for a party whose sole purpose in life is to advocate independence, they [the SNP] would have been able to provide answers about what it means for defence, for taxation, for investment, the currency, and that's what I think we should focus on."

A pan-European constituency with transnational lists for European Parliament elections is among the proposals put forward by the Constitutional Affairs Committee on Thursday. MEPs called on the Council and the Commission to join in negotiations to reform the EU electoral system so as to boost voter turnouts.

Today in the Constitutional Affairs Committee a tied vote (11-11) meant that no decision was taken on Andrew Duff's report which recommended that the EU does not agree to the request of the former government of the Czech Republic to add a Protocol on the Charter to the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Czech Protocol was conceived in 2009 in order to persuade President Klaus to sign the Lisbon treaty. Mr Duff argues that an identical Protocol signed by the UK and Poland is a spurious and futile instrument which sows legal uncertainty and political confusion. He is supported in this view by the European Court of Justice and by the Czech Senate which threatens not to ratify the Czech Protocol.