David Cameron was in feisty form on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. Cameron, who has finally woken up to the need to be more political, defended his record — including his decision to cut the top rate of tax — with vigour.
Cameron stressed how the richest 10 per cent are paying 10 times more towards the cost of deficit reduction than the bottom 10 per cent. But he argued, correctly, that the 50p tax rate was dangerously uncompetitive. He said that he was determined ‘to always be fair and seen to be fair’ which suggests to me that some new tax on the rich, something the Liberal Democrats could call a wealth tax, is on the way. Although he ruled out a mansion tax and the Chancellor has said there’ll be no new council tax bands, there are other options.
The attraction of a new tax on the rich is that it would make it far easier to persuade Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to agree to the £10.5
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