Brown’s U-turns point to Labour’s chief weakness

May 22 2008

THROUGH the columns of the Advertiser, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the latest tax con by the Labour government.

The UK government’s tax woes continue this week with Gordon Brown performing a humiliating U-turn by re-opening the budget.

This turnaround is the result of the Conservatives’ successful campaign against the abolition of the 10p rate; the threat of defeat on the Finance Bill, and Labour’s spiralling poll ratings. Despite Alistair Darling saying the budget could not be rewritten as we go into a financial year; he has now done exactly that.

Along with my Conservative colleagues, I do support any help to compensate those hit by the government’s tax increases on the low-paid, but it is important to note that the government hasn’t addressed the root cause of the problem.

This announcement is a one-off, one year only, payment which has been rushed through before the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. If it is not repeated next year, the 10p problem will remain and 22 million people will see their taxes rise.

And the Chancellor didn’t tell us that 1.1 million low earners, on incomes between £6635 and £13,355, will still lose out by up to £112 a year. So Labour has followed their tax con with a compensation con and the Prime Minister is doing this to save his own skin.

None of Labour’s major tax changes announced over the last year, including Capital Gains Tax, non-domiciles, and changes to the taxation of foreign profits, have survived unchanged.

Gordon Brown has had to execute humiliating U-turns whenever he has been faced with political pressure, belying his claim to take the right long-term difficult decisions.

This is a testament to the strength of the Conservative Party, and the weakness of the government.

David Mundell, Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale.