The Virtual Pub
Come Inside... => The Commons => Topic started by: Grumpmeister on April 16, 2008, 01:33:34 PM
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So you are saying that axing the 10p starting tax rate has narked off the voters massively but leading up to the local elextions it should be possible to offer a one off rebate? That sounds like an attempt to bribe a disenfranchised voting public in anyone's language.
The decision to axe the 10p starting rate of income tax is being felt "very heavily" ahead of next month's local elections, David Blunkett has said.
It should be possible to offer a "one-off rebate", the Labour MP and former home secretary added.
He told the BBC that he prayed voters would be guided by local, rather than national, issues.
Mr Blunkett said many of the lowest earners had "lost out in much larger numbers than ever predicted".
Elections take place on 1 May for 149 councils in England and Wales.
MPs' concerns
Gordon Brown, in his last Budget as chancellor last year, decided to end the 10p starting rate of income tax, while reducing the basic rate from 22p to 20p in the pound.
This came into effect earlier this month.
Dozens of Labour backbenchers have expressed concerns that the change is hitting people who are under 65, have no children and earn less than £18,500 a year.
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have also accused the government of increasing taxes on the lowest paid.
Mr Blunkett told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "They [tax changes] are small to those people who are doing very well.
"They are disproportionately large to those that might be losing two, three, four pounds a week and that really does matter."
'Enormous gains'
He added: "In my particular patch it is felt very heavily, but I think people are still giving the government the benefit of the doubt and they will be voting on local issues, at least I pray they do.
"I think we've just got to put a picture together, a programme together that demonstrates the enormous gains that have been made by people [under Labour]."
Mr Blunkett said: "The people who have lost out in much larger numbers than ever predicted are those who do not have children and not reached 65 and I think we owe them something."
He ruled out simply reversing the change, adding: "But I think it might be possible to do a once-off rebate or to indicate that this would be dealt with in the pre-Budget statement in the autumn and give people an understanding that we feel for them, that we are on their side".
But Business Secretary John Hutton said: "We have made these changes now."
He added that Chancellor Alistair Darling constantly kept the tax system under "careful review".
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I reckon they are going to take a huge hammering in the local elections, lets just hope people get off their arses to vote
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I reckon they are going to take a huge hammering in the local elections, lets just hope people get off their arses to vote
Let’s hope so…
If they don’t get fecked on May 1st then they’ll be in power for another ten years I reckon… noooo:
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I fear that is going to be the case, I dread to think what else they can bollix up with this country over another decade. noooo:
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I fear that is going to be the case, I dread to think what else they can bollix up with this country over another decade. noooo:
There cannot be much left to sell off, give away, commit us to or otherwise break asunder ...............
can there? scared2:
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I thought you knew better than to temp fate like that hound... noooo:
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Hound makes a good pint tho… what is there to sell off now? shrugs:
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Hound makes a good pint tho
eeek:
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Hound makes a good pint tho… what is there to sell off now? shrugs:
Now they've done it to Northern Rock I'd say anything they can get away with nationalising and then flogging off to asset stripping companies.
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Hound makes a good pint tho… what is there to sell off now? shrugs:
Now they've done it to Northern Rock I'd say anything they can get away with nationalising and then flogging off to asset stripping companies.
A virtual pub perhaps? rubschin:
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But would you really want to buy something the government has had its little patty paws on?
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But would you really want to buy something the government has had its little patty paws on?
I'd be selling tho... whistle:
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Not if they've decided to nationalise it, which given some of the comments we've made lately could happen. scared2:
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Not if they've decided to nationalise it, which given some of the comments we've made lately could happen. scared2:
eeek:
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Hound makes a good pint tho
eeek:
Freudian slip?
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Hound makes a good pint tho
eeek:
Freudian slip?
I missed that... or should I say pished that? rubschin:
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I sincerely hope so scared2:
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(https://www.virtual-pub.com/SMF/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freesmileys.org%2Fsmileys%2Fforum%2Fofftopic.gif&hash=5ee7b379b10563aa9e9a3b3539b99bd4d725145d)
Getting back on topic again, for a moment I thought we'd actually come across a member of the government with some integrity, but no, She has resigned from an unpaid voluntary position so it isnt as if she has given up a great deal.
A junior member of the government has told colleagues she is going to resign in protest at the abolition of the 10p tax rate, the BBC has learned.
Angela Smith, parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper, told them she was leaving her post.
PPS is an unpaid position seen as the first rung on the government ladder.
Gordon Brown has come under pressure from Labour MPs who fear axing the 10p rate will hit low-income people.
Sheffield Hillsborough MP Ms Smith has previously been extremely loyal.
The prime minister, who is in the US on a three-day trip, also came under fire earlier from Labour peer Lord Desai who said: "Blair was like champagne and caviar, Brown is more like porridge or Haggis. He is very solid, very nourishing but not exciting."
Constituents' anger
More than 70 Labour MPs have signed one of three Commons motions calling for action on the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax.
The decision to scrap the lowest rate was announced in last year's Budget, when Mr Brown was still chancellor, as was the decision to cut the basic rate of income tax from 22% to 20% and increase tax credits.
Gordon Brown's government is starting to unravel before our eyes
Nick Clegg, Lib Dems
But it has only just come into force and Labour MPs have been contacted by many constituents angry at the impact the decision is having.
Earlier this month the Commons Treasury committee said childless single people earning under £18,500 would lose up to £232 a year.
The government says the abolition to the 10p rate was an integral part of last year's Budget in which "millions of people" benefited from the decision to slash the basic rate of income tax.
It has said it will lead to "a significant increase" in pensioner tax allowance, a widening of the working tax credit and increases in child benefit and child tax credit.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "Gordon Brown's government is starting to unravel before our eyes as Labour MPs see the full extent of the prime minister's betrayal of the most needy in our society.
"But it is a pity that it has taken Angela Smith a full year to react to Gordon Brown's callous decision when we warned the government of its consequences on the very day it was announced in the Budget."
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It's a start tho - get the rope out...
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One phone call from Gordo and apparently she hadn't resigned, she had "issues about the 10p rate". Didn't take her long to forget her principles then. The whole lot make me seethe with anger. Barstewards cussing:
So what was she promised Gordo?
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And surprise surprise, that MP who said she was going to quit has changed her mind. Banghead
A junior member of the government who was thought to have quit has now said she is not going to leave - following a conversation with Gordon Brown.
The BBC learned that Treasury ministerial aide Angela Smith had told colleagues she was resigning over the abolition of the 10p income tax rate.
But Ms Smith later said this was not the case, although she acknowledged she had "concerns" over the policy.
The Tories said it was "astonishing" that she was still in the government.
Ms Smith, MP for Sheffield Hillsborough, is parliamentary private secretary to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper.
Commons protests
She reportedly told Labour colleagues she was quitting the government over the recent abolition of the lowest rate of income tax, which critics say will unfairly hit low earners.
Ms Smith said in a statement: "It has been reported by various sources that I am about to resign from my post as PPS to Yvette Cooper.
"It is true I have concerns over tax changes and these have been discussed with senior government figures.
"I am reassured that my concerns are understood and that the government remains committed to its anti-poverty agenda. Resignation of my post is therefore not envisaged."
A Downing Street spokesman said Ms Smith had telephoned the prime minister, who is visiting the United States, to inform him that she was not resigning.
'Sticking to job'
For the Conservatives, shadow chancellor George Osborne said: "The astonishing news that a member of the government and aide to a Treasury minister can publicly threaten to resign over Gordon Brown's tax policy and yet remain in the government is evidence of how his authority is disintegrating."
The income tax decision was announced in last year's Budget, when Mr Brown was still chancellor, as was a reduction in the basic rate from 22% to 20% and increased tax credits.
Critics fear the axing of the 10p rate, which came into effect this month, will hit many people on incomes of less than £18,500.
Asked about criticism of the tax move during a press conference at the White House, Mr Brown said: "I'm sticking to the job and I'm getting on with the job."
More than 70 Labour MPs have signed at least one of three Commons motions criticising the reforms.
The government says the abolition of the 10p rate was an integral part of last year's Budget, in which "millions of people" benefited from the decision to slash the basic rate of income tax.
The prime minister also came under fire earlier from Labour peer Lord Desai, who said: "Blair was like champagne and caviar. Brown is more like porridge or haggis. He is very solid, very nourishing, but not exciting."
On Wednesday, Chancellor Alistair Darling said the government needed to "sharpen up" its message to voters.
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Brown denies being 'pushed about'
The prime minister has defended the decision to compensate people who have lost money from tax changes, saying he was not "pushed about" by Labour MPs.
Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7362283.stm)
bs:
happy001
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I've been thinking about this whole 10p issue. While I'm not a fan of compensation culture seeing as its obvious that the government has failed in its duty of care to the lowest paid workers does that mean that some enterprising soul can take them to court for compensation?