Alexander rallies behind the 50p rate

Danny Alexander is usually the very model of collective responsibility: sober, unfussy and diligent, he sets about the coalition’s work without ever causing a scene. Which is what makes his televised comments about the 50p tax rate earlier all the more striking. When pressed on the subject by interviewer Sophie Rayworth, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury was forceful in response. The government doesn’t necessarily want to cut the rate, he suggested, and those who thought it would are inhabitants of “cloud cuckoo land”. He went on:

“We set out in the Coalition agreement, and it’s something that we as Liberal Democrats pushed very hard for, that the Government’s first priority in tax reductions would be tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes. Those very families who are working hard to try and make ends meet. Anyone who thinks we’re going to shift our priority to reducing the tax burden for the wealthiest has got another thing coming.”

Although these words do seem to undermine George Osborne’s insistence that the 50p tax is only a temporary measure, it’s worth pointing out that they may not be as definitive as all that. A Downing Street aide tells me that the government’s official position is still to “wait and see” for the review into the 50p rate to deliver it findings, and that they don’t think Alexander is ruling this approach out.

Still, it’s noteworthy that Alexander is being quite so strident about the 50p rate at this time. The review may well discover that it loses the Exchequer money. But, absent that finding, this has the potential to inspire vicious disagreement between the Lib Dems and Tories of government.