Tuesday 12 March 2013

Labour playing politics over Mansion Tax

John Leech has today accused Labour of playing politics with their opportunistic opposition day motion on a Mansion Tax. He went on to say he supports a mansion tax but opposes Labour’s attempt to play politics with the issue.

John Leech said,
Actions speak louder than words and Labour have more front than Blackpool promenade. They had 13 years to introduce a Mansion Tax and consistently refused to back our mansion tax. The Lib Dems have taken more than 2 million people out of paying income tax altogether, unlike Labour who scrapped the 10p tax rate in 2007, leaving millions of people on lower incomes worse off.

The Manchester MP went on to say,
“I believe that, in difficult times, it is reasonable to ask those in multi-million pound houses to chip in a little more. That’s why I have long campaigned for a Mansion Tax first proposed by Vince Cable that was included in the Liberal Democrat election manifesto. I will not however support a meaningless Labour motion designed exclusively to play cynical party political games.”

The Coalition has tabled an amendment to Labour’s motion, which allows Liberal Democrats to express their support for a mansion tax while also recognising Conservative opposition to it and criticising Labour’s record on taxation in office.

Vince Cable said: “The Liberal Democrats will not support a Labour motion designed exclusively to play cynical party political games. Parties should be judged on what they deliver on fairer taxes, rather than what they say about them. In Government, Labour refused to back our mansion tax.

The Mansion Tax is a Liberal Democrat policy to create a fairer tax system. The Liberal Democrats designed it and were the only party to make it a manifesto commitment in 2010. It would be levied at a rate of 1% on properties worth over £2 million, paid on the value of the property above that level

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