Comments on: Clegg’s £10k tax allowance is no Tory concession; it’s a Tory dream

By: innerfamilylife

innerfamilylife — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:21:16 +0000

Tim Horton at @LeftFootFwd says "Clegg’s £10k tax allowance is no Tory concession; it’s a Tory dream" – http://t.co/KwXkSaIe

By: Neil Garratt

Neil Garratt — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:05:44 +0000

Tim Horton at @LeftFootFwd says "Clegg’s £10k tax allowance is no Tory concession; it’s a Tory dream" – http://t.co/KwXkSaIe

By: Mark Pack

Mark Pack — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:12:00 +0000

What a very odd comment in “it looks instead as if the revenue [for the £10k allowance] will come mainly from public spending cuts”. In the speech today Nick Clegg didn’t say anything about cutting public spending to pay for it, but instead after he said it needed funding followed with 12 paragraphs about how to raise other tax revenue in order to fund it. In those 12 paragraphs was also reference to mansion tax, yet your post talks about that part of the policy being dropped. So what’s the evidence for your claim?

By: Neil O'Brien

Neil O'Brien — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:27:00 +0000

I was going to make the same point as Ryan.

Another example of having your cake and eating it seems be advocating that the money is spent on tax credits, but then describing them as “near-universal”. Really? Nine tenths of the spending goes on the bottom half of the income distribution (why you argue for it). But surely this is the opposite of the universalism being argued for on LFF by Andrew Harrop?

By: Ryan Bourne

Ryan Bourne — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:06:00 +0000

This article is really having to try have its cake and eat it. Whenever ‘fairness’ issues usually come up, the analysis on LFF looks at relativities or proportion of income. So, for example, our income tax system is described as ‘progressive’ because those higher up pay more AS A PROPORTION OF INCOME. Likewise, VAT is described as regressive because poor people pay more AS A PROPORTION OF INCOME. Therefore, when analysing tax cuts you must judge it in the same currency. Your chart above clearly shows that the poorest might gain £5 and the richest £17 per week – as a proportion of income, the £5 is much much more significant to the poor person than the £17 to the rich. Therefore, the policy is progressive – and by the measures you usually judge these things, you should be supporting it!

By: MustBeRead

MustBeRead — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:05:18 +0000

Tim Horton at @LeftFootFwd says "Clegg’s £10k tax allowance is no Tory concession; it’s a Tory dream" – http://t.co/KwXkSaIe

By: John Rentoul

John Rentoul — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:04:21 +0000

Left Foot Forward post says Clegg's tax cut is highly regressive – not sure if it takes into account PA wdrawal http://t.co/rcnYjQEI

By: Jane Watkinson

Jane Watkinson — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:51:26 +0000

@WoollyMindedLib http://t.co/IPra3dIk’s-10k-tax-allowance-is-no-tory-concession-its-a-tory-dream/ try that

By: Jane Watkinson

Jane Watkinson — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:48:55 +0000

@WoollyMindedLib @StephenMullen http://t.co/dmnGWj1b’s-10k-tax-allowance-is-no-tory-concession-its-a-tory-dream/

By: Jane Watkinson

Jane Watkinson — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:48:49 +0000

@StephenMullen http://t.co/dmnGWj1b’s-10k-tax-allowance-is-no-tory-concession-its-a-tory-dream/