Tory economic policy (or lack of?)

[Angua]

As far as I can see "so far" he is trying to be all things to all people and is often on a tangent to his local party.

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by Angua

As far as I can see "so far" he is trying to be all things to all people and is often on a tangent to his local party.

Yes - and at the same time, trying to be "different", so that people remember him.

[hatedbythemail]

Originally Posted by Angua

As far as I can see "so far" he is trying to be all things to all people and is often on a tangent to his local party.

but thats exactly the new labour scenario. hes distancing himself from old toryism and creating new toryism.

dont confuse me with a fan though. i just can see the political sense in what hes doing

Originally Posted by hatedbythemail

but thats exactly the new labour scenario. hes distancing himself from old toryism and creating new toryism.

dont confuse me with a fan though. i just can see the political sense in what hes doing

methinks you do protest too much, sirrah!

[Angua]

Weirdest thing is, when Lib Dems were accused of blowing with the wind they got slated but DC seems to be getting away with it!

[hatedbythemail]

Originally Posted by foreverwar

methinks you do protest too much, sirrah!

steady. ive already threatened you with that report post button ;-)

---------- Post added at 23:46 ---------- Previous post was at 23:42 ----------

Originally Posted by Angua

Weirdest thing is, when Lib Dems were accused of blowing with the wind they got slated but DC seems to be getting away with it!

that is a fair point. the lib dems are also establishing their brand values ;-) actually the one policy that seems to have been focused on is the 50% tax rate. a pretty big policy admittedly but am i missing other fundamental disagreements

[TheDaddy]

So much for not cutting taxes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6063832.stm

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

So much for not cutting taxes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6063832.stm

And from that article -
"Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the party would accept some recommendations and reject others.
Tory leader David Cameron has said that economic stability - not tax cuts - should be the main priority."

[Chrysalis]

the tories are still no different.

keeping the stealth taxes in place and cutting the income tax which is the fairest tax, wouldnt be surprised if council tax and vat remain untouched.

[Xaccers]

Also from the article:

The commission was set up to advise the Conservative Party on tax policy by former Tory leader Michael Howard.

Or did certain people not read it fully?

The Tax Reform Commission, set up to advise the Tories, proposes cuts in personal and business taxes - including reducing basic income tax to 20%.

Reading on in that story, it seems a good idea..........

It wants to reduce the basic income tax rate from 22% to 20% and remove 2.5 million low earners from paying tax by abolishing the 10% lower rate.
The earnings threshold, below which people do not pay income tax, would increase from £5,035 to £7,185.
The commission also backs abolishing stamp duty on shares and cutting business taxes in its report.
And it recommends abolishing inheritance tax and replacing it with a "capital gains tax on death", which would not be levied on family homes. The main corporation tax rate would be lower and more "competitive internationally", the report adds.

then the good ol' bombshell.........

Mr Cameron has said he will not promise tax cuts unless they can be paid for.

BBC Politics

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

the tories are still no different.

keeping the stealth taxes in place and cutting the income tax which is the fairest tax, wouldnt be surprised if council tax and vat remain untouched.

The suggested income tax cuts (remember, this is not Tory policy at the moment, only the result of research) would aid the lowest paid by reducing the tax on people earning less than £30odd K a year, while still taxing income above that threshold at 40%.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

The suggested income tax cuts (remember, this is not Tory policy at the moment, only the result of research) would aid the lowest paid by reducing the tax on people earning less than £30odd K a year, while still taxing income above that threshold at 40%.

Lowering the amount that low earners need to pay sounds good to me. However, the recommendation is for £21bn in tax cuts. Where will the money come from, or more specifically, what areas will see reduced funding?

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by danielf

Lowering the amount that low earners need to pay sounds good to me. However, the recommendation is for £21bn in tax cuts. Where will the money come from, or more specifically, what areas will see reduced funding?

I don't believe it was part of the team's remit to look into that.
It would be up to the Tory chancellor to decide whether to impliment any cuts or not, which is what they've said all along.
They'll have to look into where savings could be made, such as hospital managers (that's always a good one the media tells us we have too many of), or spin doctors, or the hundreds of extra civil servants Labour employed (I know, I've met some of them, and I object to £20,000 of our tax going to some obnoxious woman who's job is to recieve a fax, take a photocopy, and then fax it on to another office, yes, I kid you not, that was her job).
They'll also have to way up how much of that tax reduction will return to the treasury anyway when it is spent.
Spend £100 at tesco, and 17.5% goes to the treasury, then there's the 20% odd that goes to the treasury as income tax and NI for staff, and the amount from what the employees then spend.
So if a tax cut boosts the economy through more consumer spending (rather than them using credit which we currently do) then that will in turn feed money back into the treasury.

[lauzjp]

I bet if they got in, and did lower taxes - my other half'd get a pay rise of significant proportions!