What if the Lib Dems are right?

Alex Massie

Tuesday, 1st December 2009

James is right to say that the Lib Dems' commitment to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £10,000 trumps any obvious campaigning soundbite the Tories can offer. Isn't that a problem? Or, to put it another way, what if the Liberal Democrats are right?

On balance, I think they are. Whatever one thinks of the inheritance tax brouhaha or the 50p rate for the super-wealthy and no matter how counter-productive one thinks those notions may be, the fact remains that Tory policy, in the case of the former, and Tory preferences, in the case of the latter, impact a tiny number of people. Important people, in some cases, given their wealth-generating potential, but not many people no matter how you slice it.

Sure, paying for this Lib Dem policy is a matter of some importance (though I note that frequent commenter Thomas Bynre has outlined the way he would do it here) but as both a philosophical and political matter cutting taxes for the low-paid seems a better, healthier, policy than much of what one has seen, so far, from George Osborne.

The Tories are very good at telling us how miserable and broken everything is; rather less good at spelling out a positive agenda. The fact that something is endorsed by the Lib Dems does not actually mean it's a rubbish proposal. Simplifying the tax code is important, but so too is helping low-paid workers. And sometimes policies that can be explained in appealingly simple fashion are actually good ideas.

Filed under: Cameron (59 more articles) , Lib Dems (6 more articles) , Tax (21 more articles) , Tories (104 more articles)

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Naomi Muse

December 1st, 2009 8:17am Report this comment

Difficult call for the Tories, right now. Difficult to see when is the right time and the right subject to talk up.

In their strategic planning focusing on how badly the government is doing and has done is being played to death and to the loss of interest of many people.

Why don't they continue with the same basic strategy of focus on how badly the government has done and pepper it with little oasis of sunshine of what they are going to do that will warm the electorate to them? Assuming they have ideas and plans that would let the sunshine in, and don't just want to keep their powder dry until the Queen has accepted Gordo's request to dissolve him?

Helping low paid workers, pensioners, and all of us who have taken a big hit because of the BofE, FSA and bank mismanagement would like a sweetener - even if it is a little one. It might actually indicate that some politicians are working with us in mind rather than themselves.

Plans for cutting parliament down to a manageable size would fall well with the electorate too and keep MPs on their toes.

It would be good if he were in Toon Town and stepped in 'Dip', but we'd probably get Balls then as he could bully Harperson and La Mandy could not become PM as he's not elected.