Tory tax cut for savers and elderly

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -22612995/

A TORY government would offer a £4.1bn tax cut for savers and pensioners, David Cameron announced yesterday.

The Tory leader said basic rate taxpayers should pay nothing at all on their savings, while the personal allowance for pensioners should rise by £2,000 to more than £11,000.

Mr Cameron said the policies would “help turn Britain from a spend, spend, spend society into a save, save, save society”.

The cost of the tax changes would be met by limiting public spending, with only health, education, defence and overseas aid left untouched.

After a series of sharp interest rate cuts, millions of savers have been left out of pocket by diminishing returns from their assets. The Tories hope the tax changes will prove popular and neutralise Labour attacks suggesting the party has few firm economic policies.

But the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies suggested the Tory proposals could take money out of the economy, thus harming the prospects of recovery.

Mr Cameron said: “We need to make a really big change: from an economy built on debt to an economy built on savings, from a country and government that has lived beyond its means to one that lives within its means.”

He said a Conservative administration would set up a new stock exchange for ‘green- tech’ companies to encourage investments in new technologies. And Mr Cameron said he wanted to see high-speed broadband access available to the majority of the population within the next decade.

Conservative officials suggested the savings tax cut would cost £2.6bn, with the pensioner allowance costing another £1.5bn. Those earning more than £43,000 a year would continue to pay tax on their savings at the top rate, as is currently the case.

The move by Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne opens a wide gap between their economic strategy and that being pursued by Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, who have trimmed VAT to 15% and plan to increase borrowing to maintain public spending levels until 2011.

The two leaders went head-to-head with speeches on the economy yesterday, in a preview of the General Election campaign expected next year.

Mr Brown said the Government would be making a series of announcements on generating thousands of “green jobs”, boosting the digital industry and bringing forward investment plans.

Mr Brown signalled his determination to press ahead with part-privatisation of the Royal Mail, despite deep disquiet on the Labour backbenches. Former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has already criticised the plans.

And Mr Brown indicated that other Government bodies will also receive the same treatment. “Because we must change the way that Government works, our decision on Royal Mail will be followed by other action to get the best return from Government-owned assets,” he said.

One option being considered by Ministers is the privatisation of the Royal Mint, based in Llantrisant.

The Prime Minister told a meeting of the Regional Economic Council that the Government would invest “smartly” in sectors of the economy with “world class technology or skills, on which the country’s prosperity – and that of other businesses – depends”.

He highlighted “green jobs and the environment” and the digital economy as key areas.

The Government’s capital investment next year would be £40bn – compared to £12bn in today’s prices by the Tories during the last recession, Mr Brown said.

His speech in central London was intended as a prelude to a three-day tour of the regions which will see him visiting Wales this week.

The Cabinet is expected to meet in Liverpool on Thursday in the third of its “away days”.

Mr Cameron’s policy proposals come after his poll lead over Labour fell to an average of five percentage points during December. In a sign of the increasing animosity between him and Mr Brown, the Tory leader dismissed the flagship VAT cut as “an absolutely criminal waste of money”, and suggested in a radio interview he sometimes felt “like shaking the Prime Minister, and saying ‘look, what don’t you get?’”.

Asked by reporters whether former chancellor Ken Clarke would return to the front benches, Mr Cameron said: “Ken is already involved in helping me out. I like to think I’ve brought all the big beasts back into my part of the jungle.”

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber dismissed the Tory savings plan, saying they would “mostly benefit big banks, the super-rich and tax-avoiders”. He added: “It would not create a single new job but would instead add to the dole queues as a result of proposed cuts in public spending.”

[DGP1]

Putting the Royal Mint up for sale surely that's just a license to print money

[POSTMAN]

Putting the Royal Mint up for sale surely that's just a license to print money

That has to be the worst................

[DGP1]

Putting the Royal Mint up for sale surely that's just a license to print money

That has to be the worst................

Thank you very much, I'm here all day