Monday, February 13, 2012

Tories complain that Osborne is "kow-towing" to Liberal Democrats on marriage tax break

The very idea of a tax break for people just because they choose to get married is one which will make the skin of just about any Liberal Democrat crawl.

The Coalition Agreement with the Conservatives allows us to abstain in any vote. That's not actually enough for me - voting against, particularly in the light of welfare reforms, would be the only acceptable course of action to me. I mean, you can't take benefits of someone sick and disabled and give them to a couple earning in excess of £100,000 a year between them just because they are married and maintain any perception of fairness.

So far, we've done better than voting against. The very idea hasn't even been put before Parliament despite the Conservatives being very keen on it. The Telegraph is reporting that George Osborne has ruled out introducing such a tax break in the budget, which has angered Conservative MPs. The Chancellor is being accused of "kow-towing" to the Liberal Democrats.

The article goes on to mention that Danny Alexander is keen on ending higher rate tax relief on pension contribution and moving to increase the tax threshold to £12,500 by the end of the Parliament showing that the Liberal Democrat's first priority is the lowest paid.

The Telegraph wants its own readers to be horrified, but the article is music to my ears.

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