Sam Coates breaks the news that Lord Jacobs, the Lib Dem’s biggest donor, is quitting the party. But reading about his policy dispute with the party, one wonders why he was a Lib Dem in the first place. Sam reports that:
“His beef is that he wants Clegg to go further on tax, taking the lowest paid out of tax altogether but also reducing the rates for higher earners. The party is reluctant to raise employers national insurance by the required amount to pay for it, and relations have clearly broken down. Now Lord Jacobs wants to be free to hawk his tax plan around Labour and the Tories – and he isn’t ruling out joining another party.”
Considering that until Clegg’s leadership, the Lib Dems were to the left of Labour on tax it is puzzling that Jacobs was previously happy to donate money to the party. It seems most odds to leave the party just at the moment that the Lib Dems seem to be inching in his direction.
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