Hughes implies that the 50p rate could be dropped

The 50p rate is dominating the media backdrop to the Lib Dem conference. Simon Hughes has made the latest intervention, telling Sky News that the wealthy could and should be taxed in other ways if the 50p rate was “not very tax efficient”. He emphasised the importance of fairness by adding that you “don’t start (tax cuts) by taking the tax away from those who have the broadest shoulders.”

Hughes’ position mirrors that of Clegg, as detailed in an interview with the Independent. This episode is a further indication that the economic arguments against the 50p rate are beginning to hold sway. Ed Miliband’s insistence that the rate be retained is a risk in search of short-term political gain, a risk that the usually provocative Hughes has declined to take.

In other Lib Dem conference news, delegates have voted against the coalition’s reform of the employment support allowance and moves are being made against the government’s