“Gordon! End the 10p tax nightmare!” says Labour Parliamentary Candidate
Further evidence that Labour face a massive rebellion from within their own ranks over the 10p tax rate abolition today, from one of the party’s own Parliamentary candidates. The decision to abolish the 10p rate will make many of the poorest working people in the country even less well off, and millions more ever more dependent on complicated tax credits and government handouts.
John Wiseman, the Labour candidate for Westmorland and Lonsdale, told a Labour website that he wanted Gordon Brown to “wake up and smell the coffee” over the tax rate abolition. As Labour across the country prepare for elections next week, Mr Wiseman admits to being “in the middle of a nightmare” over the controversial proposals which are angering people across the country.
I know from my own experiences on the doorstep over the past few weeks how people locally are increasingly disillusioned with Labour. Lib Dem supporters who are swayed by our local record of action to save schools, save post offices and get the streets cleaner, are telling me that they feel betrayed by a Labour party intent on making life even harder for the poorest who are already struggling with rising bills and more expensive mortgages. At a time when we look to government for help, they are abandoning us to bail out banks and cut taxes for the super-rich.
Mr Wiseman echoes what I’ve been hearing across the ward. “Everyone seems depressed” he said. ”Gordon has decided to take money away from his core vote. Junior Ministers are threatening to resign! When are we going to wake up? There are hundreds of councillors who are going to lose their seats if Gordon doesn’t listen.”
Mr Wiseman is right. Mr Brown isn’t listening. He is carrying on regardless, and on election day the people of St Mary’s have a straightforward choice. Do you risk your vote on a party that wanted to close Prestwich Arts College, wants to close our Post Office, and wants to make the poorest working people poorer and ever more dependent on the state? Or do you trust your vote to Mary D’Albert and the Lib Dems, with a proven local track record and a tax policy that is fairer, greener, and will take millions out of poverty?
Rick
1 Comment
have your say
The abolition of the 10p tax rate will succeed in locking even more people into the client state as tax credits become even more attractive. I find it astonishing that Labour MPs on Tyneside think that the answer to low pay is to shift more civil servants away from London, rather than reinstating the 10p rate.