8/12/2019 Labour 50p Tax Plan
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Labour 50p tax plan 'very bad' for economy,
says Cameron
Labour's plan to raise the top rate of
income tax to 50p is "politically
convenient" but "very bad" for the
economy, David Cameron has said.
The prime minister told a business
conference in London that the move would
"cost jobs and investment".
He said the strong reaction from business
to the plans illustrated how damaging they
could be.
But Labour leader Ed Miliband said it would not stop firms
investing and voters now had a "clear
choice" on tax.
Senior Labour figures have been defending the pledge to raise
the top rate on income tax on salaries
above 150,000 from 45p to 50p if they win the next election in
2015.
The last Labour government raised the top rate of tax from 40p
to 50p in 2010 but the coalition
lowered it to 45p last April.
'Fair and reasonable'
Business has attacked Labour's pledge, while former trade
minister Lord Jones suggested it showed
the party was reverting to "tribalism" and putting politics
ahead of sound economics.
But Mr Miliband said it was "utterly fair and reasonable" to
reverse the coalition's move, given that
the majority of taxpayers had suffered an "unprecedented"
squeeze on their living standards.
"It will help get the deficit down and it reflects my principle
and the principle of the British people
that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest
burden," he said.
Reacting to calls from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson for the
top rate to be reduced to 40p, Mr
Miliband said there was a clear difference on tax between the
two largest parties.
"Labour has shown very clearly we want fairness in the tax
system and we have seen the prime
minister offering a different view... so we have set out a very
clear choice and the British people
know what that choice is."
Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna earlier the told the
Federation of Small Businesses
annual conference that the move was not "ideological" but would
meet Labour's pledge to deliver a
budget surplus by 2020.
