Derek Deedman

The Liberal Democrats have accused the Tories of hypocrisy, following Conservative complaints that Alistair Darling had stolen their tax policies. Several key proposals announced this week which the Conservatives claimed were their own, had actually originally been proposed by the Liberal Democrats. They include:

·         Charging aviation tax on planes, not passengers (passed by Liberal Democrat conference in 2004)

·         Taxing non-domiciles (passed by Liberal Democrat conference in 2007)

·         Increasing the inheritance tax threshold (passed by Liberal Democrat conference in 2007)

For the Tories to be complaining about the government stealing their policies is like a gang of thieves protesting about their houses being burgled. However the similarities between Labour and the Conservatives mean that there are core areas of tax policy which neither are willing to tackle. Both have failed to come up with any measures to help the poorest in society or alternatives to the discredited Council Tax, which is now due to rise at double the rate of inflation. Only the Liberal Democrats are arguing for a substantial switch from taxes on income to taxes on pollution. The flat rate poll tax both parties have proposed for non-doms would completely fail to make the likes of Roman Abramovich pay their fair share of tax. (Cable) [Lib Dem tax plans]