It’s odd to see David Cameron’s tax pledge being denounced as profligate, even in publications like the Financial Times. The Prime Minister has always been a moderate on tax, and remains one now. He has astutely positioned his promise to rise the 40p threshold as a giveaway, which makes sense politically. But the truth is a little more complex, and I look at it in my Daily Telegraph column today.
Under Labour, every year was a ‘giveaway’ insofar as tax thresholds increased with RPI inflation. David Cameron has, in effect, decided to bring back this policy. If this is a craven tax bribe for Middle England then it is one that Blair and Brown made every year in office. Here is a brief history of the top tax rate threshold:-
[datawrapper chart=”http://static.spectator.co.uk/JNkOw/index.html”]
So Cameron has promised to go back to doing what Labour did: raising this threshold is not a tax giveaway.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in