Cut Income Tax in Budget

12.00.00am GMT Mon 10th Mar 2008

Cllr Tom Papworth, Lib Dem GLA candidate for Bexley & Bromley

Alistair Darling should cut Income Tax and scrap Council Tax in his budget this week.

Tom Papworth, Liberal Democrat GLA candidate for Bexley and Bromley, has joined Liberal Democrats in calling upon the Government to reduce the basic rate of Income Tax to just 16p in the pound. Council Tax should be scrapped altogether and replaced by a local income tax set by local authorities. Initially set at 3.5p in the pound, this would still leave working families paying less income tax and not paying Council Tax at all.

Tom Papworth explained "Council Tax is unfair and Income Tax is too high. The Liberal Democrats want to reduce taxes on income because we want people to keep the rewards of their hard work.

"The tax cut would be paid for by increasing taxes on pollution, including taxing airlines and the most polluting cars. That way, people have a real incentive to live in an environmentally sustainable way: the more they help protect our environment, the less tax they will pay."

The Liberal Democrats have promised not to raise taxes overall.

At the Lib Dem's Spring Conference in Liverpool on Sunday, Nick Clegg said "We mustn't be a party that taxes for the sake of it... [Taxes] should raise the money we need, and not a penny more. So if, before the General Election, we find we can deliver our objectives with money to spare, we shouldn't look for new ways to spend it. We should look for new ways to hand it back…"