Dundee LibDems slam Labour for "abandoning the low paid"

6.56.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Apr 2008

Labour's abolition of 10p tax rate "abandoning the low paid"

Dundee Liberal Democrats today (Tuesday 8th April) slammed Labour's abolition of the 10p rate of income tax and its clear "abandoning of the low paid - a sad reflection of what the Labour Party stands for today."

LibDem Leader, Nick Clegg MP called the change a "defining moment" when Labour had abandoned fairness and hit the pockets of five million of the least affluent citizens.

The Labour-dominated Treasury select committee criticised the chancellor, Alistair Darling, for failing to soften the blow which last year's tax simplification - coming into effect this week - will have on people below the age of 60 and earning less than £18,500 a year.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vincent Cable MP, added that up to 66 000 armed forces personnel could lose out as a result of the changes - some could lose as much as £90 a year. He said, "This is a shabby deal from ministers who appear to care little about those who put their lives on the line for Britain."

Here in Dundee, LibDem City Council Group Leader, Cllr Fraser Macpherson, said, "It is a sad state of affairs when this disintegrating Labour government hits the pockets of five million of the least affluent citizens. Gordon Brown is proving to be a Prime Minister incapable of understanding the public mood."

Related Link:

Abolition of 10p tax 'will disadvantage low earners' - politics.co.uk.