So that's why 9th February was picked for the Fair Tax Action Day..

This is a really good broadcast - practical and sensitive to the squeeze people feel on their finances at the moment.

And it's a good kick off to the Fair Tax Day of Action on Saturday. Are you going to help? Have you signed up to the Fairer Tax campaign.

If, like me, you're a Kirsty fan, here's the Welsh version.



I will have to find out why there's not a Willie version - maybe we are saving him for the Conference broadcast.

The fairer tax pledge was front and centre in our manifesto. It's something we have delivered in Government and applies across the whole of the UK. Why wouldn't we tell people about it? There are some people in the party who don't really love it, especially in light of the cuts to benefits. But it does make a difference to people on low incomes. The policy itself didn't fall out of the Orange Book - it was proposed by an ordinary member at Conference. And Lizzie Jewkes can be very satisfied that her idea has helped 23 million people.

And, surely, delivering on major pledges is the way to show we are worthy of people's trust again.

ComRes poll boost for Lib Dems - but the rest are as bad as each other

I'm certainly not going to get excited about a brief 3% increase in our poll rating, even if 15% is nearer where we have been in mid term even in opposition in previous parliaments. The ComRes poll in the Independent published today, though, doesn't make happy reading for either Conservative or Labour leaders.

Ok, so only 22% of people trust Cameron and Osborne on the economy, but they don't see Balls and Miliband as the answer to their prayers either, with only 2% more trusting the Labour team. If they can't get any traction from the luxury of opposition, they're not doing at all well. Maybe people remember only too well that they didn't fix the roof when the sun was shining and didn't save for a rainy day.

What can the Liberal Democrats extrapolate from this poll? Well, it was taken after five days of coverage in which we were talking about how we made the tax system fairer. So we need to talk more and more about that. Given by the reaction from Labour folk on my Facebook when I put up a picture showing how Liberal Democrats had cut taxes for people on the minimum wage, they know fine we're right.

The Government has also put up the Minimum Wage by 11p per hour as of yesterday - although there's further to go on that issue as I'm not impressed that the rates for young people have firstly not gone up and secondly are so much lower than for over 21s. The different rate for 18-21 year olds is particularly iniquitous. Why should these adults be paid less than other adults? However, the increase in the adult rate is good.

But, anyway, fairer tax is where it's at. Labour's record is pretty shambolic. The top rate of income tax was less than it is now for all but 36 days of the 13 years Labour were in office and we have increased the Capital Gains Tax on the wealthiest and are looking to tax wealth more. Danny Alexander has directed more resources into scrutinising the tax affairs of the richest so they pay the tax that they are due.

If you agree with this approach, of cutting taxes for the poorest and raising them for the wealthiest to make the tax system fairer, please sign up here to the Fairer Tax campaign.

Nick Clegg talked about us getting out on the doorsteps to deliver 3 million leaflets on the Fairer Tax campaign by Christmas. This ComRes poll shows us that this would be a very good use of our time. Let's wear out some shoe leather. 

Do you think the rich should pay their fair share of tax?

It's probably a bit of a no brainer.

Most people, except the rich, think it's perfectly reasonable to ask those who have vast stocks of wealth to pay their fair share in tax. At a time when most people on average earnings are struggling, haven't had a pay rise for years and see their wages buying less and less, the rich bleating about their tax burden is bound to grate. If you earn £40k, you'll pay some tax at 40%. If you are so rich that you pay capital gains tax on your multi million pound stock of assets, you only pay 28% - up in recent years by 10% because of the Liberal Democrats. If you are a billionaire, you can legally organise your affairs so that you pay minimal amounts of tax.

The idea that  you should pay a bit more if you live in a house worth over £2 million shouldn't be controversial to most people. That's enough to give you a very comfortable standard of living even after a modest tax.

Making the tax system fairer is a key aim of the Liberal Democrats and, in Government, we have shown that, even when we were only left with a couple of quid and half a packet of polos in the kitty by the last government, we can still cut taxes for the lowest paid. By next April, basic rate taxpayers will have had their tax cut by over £500 a year. What could you buy with £500? Four and a half months' season ticket on the train between Livingston and Edinburgh, a year's car insurance, a month's rent? School dinners for a couple of kids for the year. It's a significant amount of money. Nobody feels that they've just been given £500 because it's effect is spread out across the year and because they're struggling anyway, but they have been.

The Government has already started to tax the rich more, but there is much more that could be done.

A new Liberal Democrat campaign has been launched with a petition calling for fairer taxes.

It's making a big push for a Mansion Tax, saying:

All we want is for everyone to pay their fair share, so we're campaigning for the introduction of a "mansion tax" on property worth over £2million. This tax would effect only 0.1% of the population but would raise nearly £2billion a year. 

This would be much harder for the super-rich to dodge. After all, you can't hide a house offshore.

If you agree, you can sign here.

From a geekery point of view, it's interesting that the party seems to be using the same Nation Builder campaign software as the Yes Scotland campaign do. Although we are playing fairly and not implying that everyone who follows the campaign on Twitter supports it like Yes Scotland did with me.