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Nick Clegg calls for tax cuts for low earners Clegg: the wealthiest must help fund tax cuts for poor
(about 4 hours later)
Nick Clegg is to call for this month's Budget to include more tax cuts for those on low incomes. Nick Clegg has said the richest must pay their fair share of tax, pledging to "call time on tycoon tax dodgers".
The deputy prime minister will also urge Chancellor George Osborne to introduce more measures to tackle tax avoidance by the richest in society. The Lib Dem leader told delegates at their spring conference that it was a "basic justice" that those earning the most should contribute most in tax.
Mr Clegg will address Liberal Democrat activists later at their spring conference in Gateshead. Lib Dems have floated plans for a "tycoon tax" in recent weeks.
The Budget "must offer concrete help to hard-pressed, hard-working families", he will tell delegates. The Budget must have "fairness" at its heart, the deputy prime minister added, with plans to reduce the tax paid by the poorest in society speeded up.
He is expected to say Mr Osborne must make the wealthiest pay more to help fund tax cuts for the poorest. In his keynote speech to the two-day event in Gateshead, Mr Clegg said the government must make the wealthiest pay more to help fund tax cuts for the poorest.
BBC chief political correspondent Norman Smith says senior Lib Dems are anxious to move the focus of the conference away from the controversial NHS Bill for England to their efforts to relieve the tax burden on those on low incomes. The speech was overshadowed by a defeat earlier on Sunday for the party leadership over the government's controversial NHS reforms in England.
'Time of need' Party members voted to oppose proposed changes to the coalition's Health and Social Care bill - concessions which have been championed by Mr Clegg.
Our correspondent says that in his keynote speech Mr Clegg will call for the Budget on 21 March to include "real tax cuts at a time of real need" and will call for the income tax threshold to be raised further and faster than currently planned. Ahead of the Budget on 21 March, the Lib Dems are pressing for tax cuts for those on low incomes to be accelerated and for more measures to tackle tax avoidance by the richest.
He will also call for more work to get rid of various tax loopholes used by the "super-rich". 'Pulling together'
Mr Clegg's speech is expected to set the tone for a crucial coalition Budget meeting on Monday. The Lib Dem leader said a fairer tax system was essential at a time when ordinary families were struggling with the cost of living and wage freezes.
He will say the Lib Dems have secured concessions on tax from the Conservatives but admit there is "still more to be done". "We need a tax system for a nation pulling together, not being pulled apart. More important now than ever when the forces of division are so strong."
"That is why the Budget in 10 days' time must offer concrete help to hard-pressed, hard-working families," he will say. "I want the Budget to show how we are anchoring this government in the centre ground. Credible - but fair." He added: "That is why the Budget in 10 days' time must offer concrete help to hard-pressed, hard-working families," he will say. "I want the Budget to show how we are anchoring this government in the centre ground. Credible - but fair."
The Lib Dem deputy leader, Simon Hughes, said the party's top priority was raising the income tax allowance, so that the first £10,000 of income is free from tax. The coalition has promised to do this by the next election, set for 2015, but Lib Dems want it to meet this goal earlier. The party's top priority is raising the income tax allowance, so that the first £10,000 of income is free from tax.
"The sooner we can get there, the sooner ordinary families have more money," Mr Hughes said. The coalition has promised to do this by the next election, set for 2015, but Mr Clegg said the government must move "further and faster" towards this goal as an example of its commitment to "real tax cuts at a time of real need".
"And I'm talking about hundreds of pounds extra in their pocket, and what can they do with it? They can spend it on the children, and they can spend it in the High Street, they can spend it in their community - and that helps growth in the economy. Mr Clegg said it was a principle of "basic justice" that the wealthiest in society shouldered the greatest burden when it came to tax. He restated his commitment to tackling tax avoidance and evasion, saying such behaviour was "frankly disgraceful".
"What we don't want is for the government to concentrate on the 1%, the one in 100 people, who have very high incomes." "Few things make me angrier as the unemployed struggle to find work, as ordinary families struggle to make ends meet, as young people struggle to get on the housing ladder: the sight of the wealthiest scheming to keep their tax bill down to the bare minimum.
"So we will call time on the tycoon tax dodgers and make sure everyone pays a fair level of tax. We've already raised capital gains tax, cut tax reliefs for the wealthiest, clamped down on tax avoidance at the top and we will go further because the Liberal Democrats have a crystal clear approach."
'Tycoon tax''Tycoon tax'
The Lib Dems have floated a so-called "tycoon tax" over the weekend and they insist it will be considered at Monday's meeting. The Lib Dems have floated a so-called "tycoon tax" and insist it will be considered at a coalition Budget meeting on Monday, although specific details remain unclear.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the tax was a "really good idea" and was "consistent" with Lib Dem policy over the years to ensure the richest in society paid their "fair dues".Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the tax was a "really good idea" and was "consistent" with Lib Dem policy over the years to ensure the richest in society paid their "fair dues".
Asked whether this had effectively replaced the idea of a tax on high-value properties - the so-called "mansion tax" - which is opposed by many Conservative MPs, Mr Davey said that there are "many ways to skin a cat". Asked whether this had effectively replaced the idea of a tax on high-value properties - the so-called "mansion tax" - championed by the Lib Dems but opposed by many Conservative MPs, Mr Davey said that there are "many ways to skin a cat".
Mr Clegg will also hit out at tax avoiders during his speech, saying: "Too often, rather than paying their dues to the nation the wealthy pay their accountants to get them out of it. Mr Clegg's speech did not include any major policy announcements but instead focused on the achievements of the coalition government and their ambitions for the future.
"Avoiding tax, minimising the amount they have to contribute - that's the name of their game, boasting about the latest wheeze for moving an asset here, a property there, a loophole everywhere, all to make the tax bill lower." He defended the party's stance on renewable energy in the face of Conservative criticism over the amount of subsidies for wind farms. The Lib Dems were "the green party in government", he suggested, and claims the UK had to choose between economic growth and sustainability were "a load of rubbish".
Mr Clegg's speech is not expected to include any major policy announcements but instead focus on the achievements of the coalition government and their ambitions for the future. He also defended proposed welfare reforms, arguing that benefit claimants "owe it to the nation" to "strain every sinew to find a job".
He is expected to defend welfare reforms and say benefit claimants "owe it to the nation" to "strain every sinew to find a job". "That's why I am such a strong supporter of the basic idea driving the coalition's welfare reforms. To make work pay, boost independence and give real help finding a job, rather than leaving people stuck on the dole, enslaved by poverty," he added.
"That's why I am such a strong supporter of the basic idea driving the coalition's welfare reforms. To make work pay, boost independence and give real help finding a job, rather than leaving people stuck on the dole, enslaved by poverty," he will add.