Is it fair that the richest are paying 20% less in taxes whilist the poorest are paying 20% more?  Clearly not.  Yet this is the situation that has arisen since Labour came to power in 1997.  After 13 years of Labour the poorest people in Britain are paying 20% more in taxation whilst the richest people are paying 20% less.  As a Liberal Democrat I believe in fairness and taxation in this country currently is blatantly not fair.   We need to rebalance Labour’s unfair tax system and put money back into the pockets of hardworking people. The people who keep this country going the teachers, firemen/women, police officers, nurses, factory workers, rubbish collectors, road sweeps, all the unsung hard working people who day in and day out go to work.  For the millions of these people who are on low and middle incomes the Liberal Democrats would do this by raising the personal allowance to £10,000.  This would give £700 a year to the hard working man and woman on the low and middle incomes.  It would be real money into their pockets.  Money they can spend on their families, on themselves, on living.

How would we pay for this?  It would be paid for by closing loopholes that unfairly benefit those at the top, a crackdown on tax avoidance by both individuals and multi national companies, a new mansion tax and higher aviation duties.  So that the richest in society pay more and the poorest pay less proportionally.  This, to me, is fair because a loaf of bread costs the same whether you are very rich or a working family.  There is no reason why those on low and middle incomes should be expected to go without the basics in life.

Labour are going to promise not to increase income tax in their manifesto but will make no similar pledge on VAT.  So again it would be the poorest who would loose out.

The Conservatives tax plans will benefit the richest people so continuing the last 13 years taxation divide and making the working man/woman poorer whilst their rich backers continue to get richer.

Only the Liberal Democrats have said that they will put money into the pockets of those on low and middle incomes – real money – £700.