So it’s no more Mr Nice Guy from the Lib dems. They used to be the honest party that told people they wanted to spend more through the public sector, and therefore would put taxes up. These policies always came out as very popular in the focus groups, and always ensured the Lib dems came third.

Now the Lib Dems have woken up to the fact that most people in private think they themselves pay too much tax, and get rotten value for money for what they have to contribute: hence the new Lib dem headline - tax cuts for the many.

Unfortunately, the small print makes much grimmer reading. The Lib dems still want to give income tax receipts to local government so Councils can spend more with access to a much more buoyant source of revenue. That’s at least 4p in the ??1 on income tax. So now we are told they will cut the national rate, to deal with the first round effects of the imposition of local income tax: the net benefit on income tax is zero.

They also tell us higher earners and polluters are going to have to pay more - but there are no details of how and by how much. With the Labour government using Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to pillage any successful business or family by endless reinterpretations and stretching of the rules I guess the Lib Dems think they can get away with vague threats against polluters. They need this money to replace the Council Tax.The questions they need to answer are:

1. How do they define polluters?

2. How much extra do they need to raise in?? tax from polluters?

3. How much income do you need to have before Lib dems think you are rich?

4. How much extra tax will the "rich" have to pay?

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