There’s something quite refreshing about David Cameron’s plan to offer a tax break to married couples. It says, simply: this is what I believe. And it does so in spite of polling data and strategic arguments to the contrary. This is one area where you certainly couldn’t accuse the Tory leader of caring too much about what other people think.
But refreshing or not, that doesn’t make it good policy. Of course, there’s a tonne of empirical data which demonstrates the benefits of marriage. That’s important and persuasive. But, as I’ve written before, there are reasons to doubt the efficacy of a tax break in particular. And I don’t think the next government will have enough fiscal space to implement ineffective policy, even if it does send out a strong message.
In which case, this revelation in Rachel
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