One pledge that David Cameron can, and should, make on tax

George Laird

Dear James

It is one thing to deny yourself something and quite another to deny someone else.

That idea is a badly thoughtout gimmick.

We all know that certain MPs, Tories have second jobs and incomes.

People by and large are fair, they would have no problem with an MP being paid a good salary.

It is the constant abuse of the system coupled with no political will to punish offenders that is truly sickening.

As someone at the bottom of the financial ladder I don't want to see people punished for having done nothing wrong.

For the sake of a soundbyte?

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

AndyLeeds

Why stop there ? Should be a complete freeze on all public sector pay until the Government can cut taxes or its borrowing is below a certain level. If those in the public sector don't like it well tough. Get a new job in the real world.

John Page

Can the PM decide MPs' salaries?

And the notion of merely freezing their allowances would be hugely unpopular.

Thinking back to ministers, with quite a few private sector salaries and wages being cut, again would freezing be enough?

No pay cuts at Spectator Towers?

Pat

Yes. and perhaps a pledge to raise the tax free allowance- effectively giving those on minimum wage a 15% pay rise for a full week would actually help the poor, encourage the working poor rather than the idle poor, and cost little since it would reduce the cost of collection. Any necessary rise in income tax would not be seen as taxing the poor.

The Watcher

Thatcher never claimed the full PM's salary, choosing to be paid the same as the rest of the cabinet and I expect Cameron to do the same and also impose a huge, 15-20% pay cut for all minsters and the mandarins. (Their children won't starve or have to go outside without shoes!) That way he can claim that the political class is also being forced to face up to the mess the government is in. "We all have to make sacrifices etc."

oldtimer

There is scope to change the balance of taxation between taxes on income, savings and investment and taxes on consumption; and there is scope to simplify taxation, all within current overall taxation levels. Such changes could alter the incentives in the tax system for the better and remove some of the ridiculous anomalies that affect the low paid. These changes, coupled with pay cuts for the higher paid public sector employees (£100k+?) would be a good way to start.

strapworld

If this was in the manifesto and ALL tories accepted it. It would be a welcomed move. He must also ensure that a truly independent body, like the top salaries board, deal with the issue of MP's expenses, so that they can be seen as reasonable.

He should also promise a fully elected second chamber within two years!

A Royal Commission into the National Health Service.

A Royal Commission into the Police Service.

A Royal Commission into the Armed Services.

BUT he cannot promise any tax cuts. they, as Clarke correctly said, can only be aspirational!

Verity

I don't think, at this stage, anyone is going to care what David Cameron's latest big idea might be. The public reacts badly to all his feeble, Labouresque ideas. No one cares what he thinks. He's awful.

We need Daniel Hannan and Nigel Farage in Westminster. Let David Cameron go over to Brussels and be a little Euro Luvvie.

wonderfulforhisage

My guess is we aren't far away from double didgit inflation. It would be impossible to freezw anybodies pay were this to come to pass.

Trevorsden

That pledge might be a hostage to fortune for a very long time.

No one should be under any illusions that this debt will be with us for quite a while. We should not forget that as well as all the recent debt released we entered this recession with a huge debt.

Browns plan is pretty clear - issue masses of debt now to get him past the election - and then pay it of with inflation.
The QE exercise must be clouding the issue as well - if it ends up being used to buy Govt debt then this risks even more inflation doesn't it?

Oh do not worry that will be global inflation.

But pay we will - inflation will impoverish us all. Probably the poorest most. Not something Brown is likely to publish.

nickle

The Tories should securitise the Pension liabilities. I suggest calling them Brown Edged Notes.

Then to pay for the repayment and interest, a new tax should be set up. It should relate to work,just like income tax and appear on your payslips and annual return. I suggest a good name for this is Labour tax, because you are going to have to labour to pay it off.

Then everyone is clear what they are paying for services they aren't receiving.

THX1138

Tokenism, we need real solutions not new ways of stopping talented people from coming MP's

Anyway it would have no effect on Dave and Boy George as they live on bloody great trust funds anyway.

If got an idea why don't all right wing journalists forgo their pay rises as a matter of principal until the a new elected Tory government can cut taxes. I'm sure that kind of stupid tokenism would be very popular with the public.

Verity

Strapworld - no "fully elected" second chamber. Fully hereditary. No interest in getting elected. Turning up when something interested them and they could contribute something to the debate. Otherwise, mercifully staying out of everyone's hair and busying themselves with their own business - not ours.

Tony Blair began the deconstruction of Britain. Or should I say, Fat Cherie - a resentful Scouse - did. Tony was just an egotisical moron with an intense interest in being a rock star, before Cherie saw him and sensed a winner and managed him into a position of destruction.

Has anyone else noticed how they have been airbrushed out of the CND? No mention at all. Gone.

Fergus Pickering

What ARE you talking about, AndyLeeds? Is a soldier's job less real than a double-glazing salesman's. Is my daughter's job, looking after mad people, less real than the one Fred the Shred had? What do you do for a living in the real world?

C Powell

I'm with Andy on this one. Not just freezing all Ministers' pay but: -

1. Freezing all public sector pay.
2. Freezing all recruitment other than replacements in key positions i.e. nurses not managers.
3. All new recruits to the public sector to have money purchase pension schemes.
4. Final salary pension schemes in the public sector to be closed to all members. Accrued rights will remain but from then on pensions will be money purchase. This is to apply to all MPs.
5. All allowances for MPs to be abolished. MPs should only be able to claim expenses in line with IR rules and on the provision of receipts, with all such expenses and receipts to be published on a quarterly basis.
6. All posts in the public sector with pay over £100K should be reviewed and salaries reduced over time.
7. No bonuses to be paid in the public sector. People should do their jobs for their salary.

William Blake's Ghost

Given that for whatever reason certain MP's do not have second incomes, how about introducing a level of means testing overall income of MP's into the Parliamentary Salaries & Expenses.

If they earn less in overall income than a certain amount each year (say £100,000 or so) they apply for a salary top up. Otherwise they get nout. In return all personal expenses (second home allowance, travelling etc.) get scrapped.

Easy to validate as it will be on their tax returns (unless they are fiddling) and ensures that those less affluent MP's are not left short.

On top of that there is what needs to be done with the public sector but for the purpose of this thread that is a seperate debate.

Ian C

Gesture politics, James. Would not change a thing and it is "change we can believe in" that we need (to coin phrase I've heard recently!).

The return of confidence in our future is what is needed. That will come by setting us free of state imposed burdens - starting with a high nil rate band. It sounds expensive but will result in, among many other advantages, a massive return to work of people who are currently scrounging off the rest.

kenza

it is very very very baaaaaaaaad baaaaaad