Cameron attacks tax-happy Brown

Nash

About time Cameron starting attacking Brown and Labour on tax.

Vulture

Dave will never EVER join the Euro. Or so he says.

Didn't he give a similar cast iron guarantee once before...something abt holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty?

How much weight can be placed on his words this time?

Chris lancashire

More of the same from Cameron please. The argument so far has been on Brown's terms - who can spend the most or cut the least.
Instead, swing it onto natural centre right territory - value for money and reducing taxes.

PAUL GILBOY

Well he is the leader of the conservative party if he uses conservative language verbatim, that can only be a good thing.
It proves politicians are listening!!does it not

Simon Denis

At last - fighting talk. Let's hope the Hiltonian blandness of January is now a thing of the past. Yes, he must appeal to "les femmes" but they like a man to be strong as well as suave. Even more encouraging is his willingness to attack. For years, the Tories have been hampered by a strange unwillingness to engage in "negative" campaigning. Remember "What Lies Behind the Smile?"? How prescient that turned out to be! The "straight kinda guy" stands revealed as a devious, loopy, interventionist twerp. Moreover, the British public IS negative. Many of us either don't vote at all or vote from the sourest of motives, hoping to do the other side down, radically unsatisfied by the party which claims to represent our interests - and that's just the Labour side. Tories are quite as prone to vote in a "negative" spirit, but from the deep conviction that criticism is usually more justified than endorsement or praise - and what a vast reservoir of points, arguments, one-liners and pot shots we have at our disposal after years of Brown. He claims to have abolished boom and bust - well he certainly got rid of boom - and so on. So, without sounding too like Flashman; without getting too personal, Cameron must parade the failures, the deceits, the scandals and hidden agendas of Labour government from now until polling day. Attaboy!

Sally Chatterjee

Since when did Middle-England pay the top rate of income tax? We're talking about middle-managers in Dudley and prosperous shopkeepersin Norwich, not media executives and investment bankers.

Naomi Muse

Sounds impressive but the alliterative wording of Broon's original sits better.

Maybe the Cameron Camp are following advice from the legendary Tom Lehrer to plagiarise?

strapworld

I doubt if Cameron will have the guts to even mention the word IMMIGRATION. This mass immigration, organised deliberately by Labour, as proven by Neather and now, thanks to Migrationwatch, from official documentation MUST have had a great effect on local and national exchequers.

What planning did they make on the effect on the indigenous population?

What planning did they take on the effect on the NHS, Social Services, Housing, Education, public tranquility? What costings
were given and will they now reveal all the papers to the people?

I suspect it is a case of damn the people! We are in charge and they can lump it.

But WILL Cameron ask any question on the one big issue worrying most people in this country?

OF COURSE NOT...he is FRIT!

A leader? Don't make me laugh.

AndyinBrum

SD the behind the smile campaign didn't work, which is why they've avoided being so negative.

A cast iron guarantee on a referendum if Lisbon was still to be ratified, which is moot as it is now passed. Unlike Labour who had the chance to give us one, but seemed to forget.

We won't join the Euro, but you might find that £1 = 1 all thanks to the economic genius of one G Brown esq

JohnPage

Er ... does not green Dave's party approve of higher tax on petrol? Have they not floated the idea of re-introducing periodic rises?

Derek

Why "strident"?

the shade of dr kelly

i want to hear cameron at pmqs ask today

"whilst we welcome the government's very long overdue decision to raise compensation for our brave injured servicemen instead of continuing to penalise them as they were previously doing, could the prime minister tell the house why they have only just chosen to announce this shortly before a general election rather than years ago which would have been "the right thing to do".

go on, please.

maas101

Vulture

The cast iron guarantee was if Lisbon was not ratified. If you want to rant at someone do so at Labour who promised a referendum on the constitution/Lisbon treaty in their manifesto and then reneged on that.

DavidDP

"Didn't he give a similar cast iron guarantee once before...something abt holding a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty?"

Hmm, let's see, you mean giving a referendum if the treaty had not been ratified, but taking another course if it had? Ooh, that's what he's done. A man of his word, excellent.

Liberty

There is no need for governments to be forced into being for or against marriage and taxing or not taxing accordingly, every choice has problems so they cannot win. Far better to convert child benefit to a family allowance, abolish means testing by making it time bound, ie, payable for say 12 years form the birth of the last child.

Abolishing means testing would save a fortune, reduce fraud, the poverty trap, encourage self provision and the family allowance could be worth more. Then, it would be obvious that two can live cheaper than one and we would do away with the ridiculous situation where it is cheaper to live alone and have as many children as possible. People respond best to incentives and the poor most of all.

John Bracewell

Vulture @ 9.23
You ask 'didn't he give a cast-iron guarantee on a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty'
The answer is NO. He gave a cast-iron guarantee for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty providing it had not been ratified, he also said at the same time that he would clarify his position on Europe if the Treaty was ratified before there was a chance of a Conservative government.
Don't let your anti-Cameron bias distort what was said, or you become similar to the BBC and other left leaning media organisations in their attacks on the Conservatives.

Paul B

Sally , many middle Englanders pay the top rate tax, if you exclude Brown & Darling recently introduced new 50pc rate on a 150grand or more. You only had to be earning about 35grand -not at lot- to slip into the 40pc tax bracket. It was another Brown stealth tax, the amount you started paying the increased percentage has not increased in line with inflation for many years. Typical of the devious, spiteful nasty Brown. His game, to bribe people with their own hard earned. I believe the British have his measure.

Vulture

@ AndyinBrum No, Andy,: he did not promise a referendum on Lisbon 'if it is still un-ratified'. He promised a referendum on Lisbon. Period. No ifs or buts or qualifying clauses.

Now he has done the same on the Euro. We will never join. Apparently.

I welcome what Cameron is saying. My point is simply that there's an election looming and talk and promises are cheap. I merely question whether this latest cast iron guarantee can be relied upon.

And, as Strapworld says, not a word on the
'I' issue which is on the minds of millions of voters. Dave has banned all mention of it by Tory candidates and that is both cowardly and rather stupid.

THX1138

And Nobel Prize-winning US economist Joseph Stiglitz puts the boot into The Tories in the Staggers

He is "incredulous" at the Conservatives' plans to cut spending. He describes Tory economic policy as "Hooverite" and dismisses as "crazy" and "fear mongering" the claim that Britain is at risk of defaulting on its debts.

DavidDP

"OF COURSE NOT...he is FRIT!"
[cough] http://conservativehome.blogs.com/thetorydiary/2010/01/tories-turn-up-the-volume-on-immigration.html [cough]

General Zod

Sally Chatteringclass, it is not just the 50% rate; the "old" top rate of 40% is paid by a far greater proportion of taxpayers than before 1997, including Dudley middle managers and Norwich shopkeepers, thanks to Brown's fiscal creep (failing to increase thresholds to keep pace with inflation).

Simon

Cameron says: “Look at the evidence of the 1980s. The way we got the rich to pay more taxes is we cut the top rate of tax.” So why is he not pledging to abolish the 50p top rate immediately this time round?

Nicholas

Where is the long promised Fraser Nelson post on Neathergate? It seems doubly overdue now that the whole sorry story has been brought to prominence again.

The longer the silence on this subject the more this magazine's credibility is fatally undermined.

Roland Haines

@strapworld
Its ok getting all worked up about immigration and Dave steering clear. But considering the public were said to be concerned about the issue in 05 and before that, it did not stop voters continuing to support Labour. Hague turned right, Howard turned right, where did it get either of them. The Great Unwashed out there will moan like buggery about these "bloody immigrants" and then vote Lib Dem. Have you seen Nick Robinson on the BBC going about "interviewing" people? Most of them hav'nt got a clue what any of the parties stand for. The result of Im a celebrity Ice Skating is far more important than who runs the country.

JONNY

Thankyou strapworld.
And how I envy you.
Such simplistic answers to all the pressing problems of the day. I keep on scratching my head and wondering how I had managed to miss such obvious truths.
Just one wee word of caution though.
This staccato word FRIT you keep on using.
Nothing wrong with it.
In fact a jolly useful one-syllable projectile in the vocabulary of meaningless invective. But it does seem to be in danger of slight over-use.
Ration it, old boy.

Dirty Euro

"and the top rate of income tax" What does that have to do with middle Britain. Middle Britain does not earn 80.000 a year.

DavidDP

"And Nobel Prize-winning US economist Joseph Stiglitz puts the boot into The Tories in the Staggers"

Unfortunately his analysis is half cocked. He fails to explain what we will have to do if we keep racking up the debt and increasing the deficit (and in fact, whether we will be able to keep doing so.) You need to balance the two sides, and having spunked our money up the wall in the good times, the room for spending in bad is much more curtailed.

The Tories, thankfully, recognise this. We won't become Greece.

Roland Haines

@VULTURE
Further to my comment to Strapworld.Surely you must realise any Tory who makes a comment about immigration will instantly be branded a racist and be misreported by the BBC as a Nazi final solution supporter. We have seen it all before. I reiterate, its no good thiking the woman in Tesco and the man in the the Black Lion who moan about immigrants, will automatically vote Tory.

Vulture

@Roland : You may be right Roland. They may vote BNP instead.

John Bracewell

Vulture @ 10.12
Nor did he say ' a referendum even if it has been ratified'
To have done so, would have drawn ridicule, since why would anyone give a referendum on something which has been ratified and over which no change can then be made. What you could do is campaign for an In/Out referendum, Lisbon Treaty is history.

Holly ......

Why,when talking about Brown's tax grab do some rabbit on about immigrants,Lisbon and Europe? YAWN!!!
Do they want to change the direction of comments?
Brown is a taxing,spending nutcase.
Brown signed the Lisbon Treaty.
Brown is STILL allowing far too many into the country and dishing out NI Numbers like sweets,to god knows who.
Brown signed the country over to Europe.
Try trash Cameron all you want.
Brown following Blair is doing exactly what you are griping about.
If it not for Brown the Lisbon treaty would NOT be an issue.
If not for Blair and now Brown immigration would NOT be an issue.
If not for Blair and now Brown Europe ruling
us would NOT be an issue.
It is Blair's and Brown's policies,actions and 'getting one up on the Tories',that HAVE made these issues.
Hague and Cameron WILL deal with these issue all in good time..AND in a far better way for BRITAIN than the smart arses in the Labour cabinet at present.
Spin and transference spring to mind.
Nice try though.

stephen

Good for our Dave he's starting to warm up in the bullring! IMHO the Euro is toast and its much more about our Dave with a thumping Tory majority, knocking the Brussels Bureacrats about something rotten! William Hague should be great at this!

But don't vote UKIP it will only make a present of precious Tory seats to Labour and their fellow travllers the Lib Dems.
Dave needs a strong majority!

Any Colour but Brown

"Vulture
@ AndyinBrum No, Andy,: he did not promise a referendum on Lisbon 'if it is still un-ratified'. He promised a referendum on Lisbon. Period. No ifs or buts or qualifying clauses."

So, Vulture, please elucidate.

Please explain to those of us, less interested in nit-picking words than in the harsh reality of life, what Cameron should have done, why and what it would have achieved?

Charles

Dirty Euro,

Shame that the top rate of tax kicks in at round #35,000 then.

(throws meat to the troll and hides)

Holly ......

"P.S.Just out of a mild sort of interest, it's worth comparing and contrasting this Daily Telegraph leader from 2006, which says of Brown",he has taxed marriage,petrol,
pensions,homes and holidays.
A case of SSDD then.
Makes no difference if Gordon Brown is chancellor or PM,SIX YEARS down the line still taxing everything he can and giving ZERO back.
Same old Gordon....same old Labour.

Vulture

@ Any Colour but Bruin. Happy to oblige, ACB. Dave should have said something like:
'Since the unconstitutional Lisbon Treaty has been illegally put into place in spite of the stated wishes of the French, Dutch and Irish (Ref. No.1) peoples; I will do what Liebour and Lib Dems have failed to do and keep my promise that you can vote on your future in or out of an increasingly dictatorial EU'. I would then announce a referendum on whether the Govt. should seek a new association with the EU a la Norway or Switzerland rather than full membership.

He would then appear to be an honest man, would dish UKIP at a stroke, and would win millions of votes. Happy now?

Liz Brown

Can Vulture please explain what having a vote on Lisbon AFTER it had been singed by gormless and agreed to (by our last hope), the Irish, would have achieved apart from a waste of money? Cameron did not break his promise and a referendum would have been an entirely meaningless gesture. However, I suspect that he believes in AGW and the tooth fairy as well

Liberty

It is an unfortunate fact that Labour spends, borrows and throws money around on its voters and the Tories have to clean up, get everyone back to work and pay the debts. The great unwashed don’t understand why the spending had to stop so, with the connivance of Labour blame the Tories for being skinflints then Labour gets back in. Thats democracy.

Vulture

@Liz Brown ( no relation I hope?)
I would have thought I'd made it clear to the meanest intelligence: Cameron should keep his word, show the other parties for the promise-breakers they are, give us an In/Out referendum and win the election.
Alles Klar?

John77

Sally Chatterjee and all those who replied to her.
The highest rate tax is not paid by millionaires but by the struggling middle-class.
Anyone on Working Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit has a marginal rate of 71% comprising income tax 20%, National Insurance 12% and reduction in tax credits of 39%. It goes up to 81% if the family has one child at university.
In contrast the idle rich pay 40% and hedge fund managers - or lawyers making £1m a year from legal aid - only pay 42% at the margin and they are threatening to leave the country when it goes up to 52%!
The heaviest burden does indeed fall on Middle England who cannot afford to move to Switzerland.