Nick Clegg makes the case for lower taxes for lower paid

This morning Nick Clegg is urging the Government to go further and faster in raising the threshold at which people start to pay income tax.

One of the key demands made by the Liberal Democrats when we entered the coalition was that the tax threshold should be raised. Our manifesto commitment was that no one should pay income tax on the first £10,000 that they earned. This was accepted by the Conservatives and is being instituted in stages with the first £1000 rise happening last year and another £630 rise planned for this April.

In today's speech, Nick Clegg says:

"Today I want to make clear that I want the coalition to go further and faster in delivering the full £10,000 allowance, because the pressure on family finances is reaching boiling point. These families have seen their earnings in relative decline for a decade, compared to those at the top. That has accelerated since 2008, with lower real wages and fewer hours at work."

The Lib Dem demand is for lower and middle earners to be as higher priority than the super rich - which is why the Lib Dems have vetoed any suggestion of abolishing the 50p rate for top earners and have ensured that the tax on bank profits is enforced.

That concern for tax cuts targeted at the lower paid is also why the Lib Dems in Cornwall proposed the council tax freeze for the coming year.

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