Vince whets our appetite for Nick's tax cuts speech

In the second very encouraging example in 4 days of Them Inside the Westminster Bubble communicating with us lesser mortals a bit better, the Almighty Vince sent an e-mail to party members this morning to give us the heads up about a speech being given by Nick Clegg later today in which he will make the case for quicker tax cuts for low earners.

This is exactly what the Liberal Democrats are for and the e-mail links to a site which gives lots of proper concrete examplesof how much we're helping ordinary people. Remember the Tories' big idea on tax was to cut it for rich, dead people.

It's pretty hard to get out of bed on these horrid, cold, dark, Winter mornings. However, Vince and Nick have made me pretty happy this morning.

I will return to the speech later, but for now, here's Vince's e-mail:

Dear Caron,

As families face more of a squeeze, today Liberal Democrats are arguing for greater tax cuts for hard working people.

Between now and the Budget, Nick and Danny and I will be arguing for faster tax cuts, giving you a reward for hard work. And Nick will be setting out our case in a speech today.

Given the budget constraint we have to raise money for the tax cut elsewhere and have plans to raise an equivalent amount from the wealthiest taxpayers.

At the last election the Liberal Democrats promised to raise the personal allowance for ordinary taxpayers to £10,000. I am proud that the Coalition has committed to doing so over the course of this Parliament.

For millions of ordinary hard working people, that means paying £700 less in income tax each year. Low earners, mostly women will benefit from being lifted out of tax altogether.

But times are tough and quite simply, Liberal Democrats in Government want to help families who are currently being squeezed by moving more quickly.

Whether it’s targeting an extra £7bn from tax evaders and avoiders, taking an extra £2.5bn every year from the banks in a balance sheet tax, or the announcement I made on Monday to curb the excesses of executive pay, this Coalition is taking important steps to deliver a fairer economy.

And we have already made a big difference, click here to see how.

We are building a new economy, one that benefits the whole country, not just bankers in the City of London. Making the tax system fairer is crucial to that. This is a huge task that will make Britain a fairer and more liberal country for generations to come.

Yours,

Vince Cable MP
Member of Parliament for Twickenham and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

And to the lovely people who are improving the comms - a great big cuddle from me to you. Thank you and keep up the good work.