Darling’s Budget
The headlines will be obvious. Darling has stolen the Tories’ clothes. Depending on your political leanings, you will either be delighted by the audacity, or gnashing your teeth at the injustice. Politicians shouldn’t spend too much time lamenting political opportunism - it won’t garner votes on polling day. Rather there are more important, strategic points to make.
First, the fact that Labour have stolen our clothes shows they have run out of ideas. Take away inheritance tax and non-doms (and the change to airline tax), and there is no big idea, and no vision. So why does Brown need two years to show Britain something that does not exist.
Second, a further lesson to the media, as if they needed one, on Labour spin. Ask yourself why policies that could not be afforded or implemented last Tuesday when George Osborne set them out can now be introduced a week later. When the Tories propose modest tax cuts in future, please don’t waste time and coverage on Labour claims that this means X number of teachers or Y number of doctors will have to be sacked to pay for them.
Finally, ask yourself why we have a Government that implements last-minute policies in its Budget and then pays for them with a tax on entrepreneurs and wealth creators.
Glenlivet Guy said on October 10th, 2007 at 2:28 am:
As I posted on Guido 2 hours ago, strangely this government has now reduced CGT on second homes from 40% to 18%. A massive saving if your second home(s)… lets not forget those in Bristol… has increased by 200% over the years of the Blair/Brown governments.
Oh ghosh who will benefit from this most….all those labour MPs from the provinces who have bought second homes in the South funded by their generous second home allowance paid by we tax payers.
In the meantime the businessman/woman about to retire having had their pension plot decimated by the removal of pension fund tax relief in Browns first budget, now finds an 80% increase on the tax they have to pay when they sell their business on retirement.
Nice work if you can get it…no wonder Ed Balls and co were smiling.