In case you were wondering what it would take to get the Coalition and its cheerleaders genuinely concerned about something, then Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander provided it over the weekend, by announcing that there will be no tax breaks for anyone in the next 5 years.
The Official reason being that the deficit is so high that this has to be done, but its got the Tories up in arms as the UK is now facing austerity cuts, no tax relief, possibly subdued growth and higher unemployment, not exactly easy to defend now or sell to a weary electorate at the next election.
The unofficial reason this was announced is an attempt by the Liberal Democrat to mitigate the damming criticism by the Institute of Fiscal Studies report last week that proved that George Osborne’s June Budget was regressive and would hit the poorest hardest. The Lib Dems are hoping that if they rule out tax breaks for everyone then the Budget might be seen as a lot more “progressive”.
The problem for Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander is the damage has probably already been done and claiming that growth and measures to move people back into work weren’t included makes them sound petty and more than a bit desperate.
More on the need for the Coalition to focus on growth and less on cuts from Iain Martin over at the Wall Street Journal.Any source
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