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Lib Dems to target super-rich

17/09/2007

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to tackle the growing gap between the rich and poor in the UK, promising to tackle loopholes which allow the "super-rich" to pay less tax than those on low incomes.

In a speech to the party's annual conference Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable claimed that "immoral, anti-social behaviour" by the super-rich was being given a "free reign" under Gordon Brown's government.

His comments follow the results of a new survey conducted for the Liberal Democrats, which the party says illustrates that there is a "real disgust" among the public about "tax dodging" by some high earners.

The YouGov poll of 2,250 people found that 84 per cent of respondents felt that the earnings gap between the rich and poor was "too large".

An additional 64 per cent said that they felt the earnings gap had grown wider in the ten years since Labour had been in power.

Mr Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said that while the prime minister often spoke about the need to ensure social justice, in reality the super-rich are paying "virtually no tax at all".

In contrast, he claimed that low paid workers and the middle class were being "taxed to the hilt".

Commentators believe the Lib Dems will announce plans this week to crack down on tax breaks given to private equity bosses, while Mr Cable today suggested that the party was also prepared to curb the abuse of non-domicile status.

The party has claimed that its emphasis on "fairer" taxes "strikes a chord" with voters, with the Lib Dems set to propose changes to the way that the wealthy are taxed in order to help fund the cost of a four pence cut in the basic rate of income tax.

Meanwhile Mr Cable today insisted that the UK economy had been "built on a flood plain" with "water pouring through the defences" as a result of the current problems faced by mortgage lender Northern Rock.

The Lib Dem economic spokesman said that the prime minister, who formerly served as the country's chancellor, had to take personal responsibility for the current state of the economy, warning that despite Mr Brown's emphasis on stability, levels of personal debt had ballooned.

Mr Cable stressed that his party wanted to tackle "reckless" lending and said that the government's fiscal policies should be independently scrutinised in the future.