The Devil Is In The Detail


Just to show I'm not completely impervious to ideas from the Conservative party I thought I'd bring to the attention of anybody passing this page on their way to Manchester City football blog or sex in Thailand the following paragraph (it's on page 12 way before the boredom of any manifesto creeps in):

"when resources allow, starting to reverse the effects of the abolition of the dividend tax credit for pension funds."

Take a deep breath and read that again. Now come on admit that's exciting isn't it, seriously. I'm not being ironic or taking the mickey this is big, big stuff. The dividend tax legislation that was introduced by Gordon Brown is one of the most oft discussed subjects on message boards. Once the ball gets going this is up there with immigration and the economy.

How many potential voters out there have missed this? Well I think the 'serious' political students are aware of it and to judge by the number of manifesto flying off the shelves in Waterstones up and down the country people are actually taking the time out to read them. Conservatives are winning in the shops and Lib Dems seem to winning the postal vote, due in no small part to the fact that theirs is the cheapest!

Actually if you haven't read the Conservative manifesto yet I urge you to do so, some of it, particularly the sections dealing with an integrated transport system (although Labour have that too) and a restructuring of the cockeyed regional funding system are to be welcomed. The Corporation Tax and Income Tax reviews are worthy but the point about our taxation system is that it is driven by the EU - although apparently we aren't allowed to discuss this (that's the official line by the way), just about the only tax we can reform on our own is VAT and that is subject to several points of European Law.

Tinkering with National Insurance and Income Tax doesn't actually achieve anything unless the changes are sweeping and radical. In all honesty scrapping National Insurance would be the best deal with the additional revenue coming from Income Tax and as I pointed out last year the small print in the 2008 Finance Bill clearly points the way to a scrapping of National Insurance with the slack being taken up by Corporation Tax.

Here are some of the other points that caught my eye:

"Under a Liberal Democrat government, you will not have to pay any income tax on the first £10,000 you earn. This will put £700 back into the pockets of millions of people on low and middle incomes and free 3.6 million more people on low incomes from having to pay any income tax at all. In this way, we will help people who are struggling to make ends meet and provide an incentive to work and save."

"A People’s Bank at the Post Office; a Universal Service Obligation on banks to serve every community; a clampdown on interest rates for doorstep and payday" - Labour manifesto.

This of course ignores the fact that since 1997, under a Labour administration, 3,500 Post Offices have closed.

"Take tax off the minimum wage by raising the tax threshold to £11,500· Reduce everyone’s taxes with a 31% flat tax· Abolish the ‘tax on jobs’: phase out employers’ NI contributions over five years. " This is from UKIP's Empowering The People 2010 - which sounds a little too close to a rallying cry from Citizen Smith to be taken too seriously. Now they seem to have got their sums right with this one although the phrase 'tax on jobs' seems slightly misleading, I've yet to meet a client who has told me they wouldn't take anyone on because of National Insurance.

"Bringing back into use Britain's 300,000 long-term empty private sector homes
Renovating Britain's 37,000 empty council homes to help cut waiting lists" This is from the Green Party's Fair is Worth Fighting For. What one of the parties should be doing is something similar to what the French did and that's reducing the rate of VAT for materials used in building renovations.

I tried to read the BNP manifesto but the page wouldn't load and when it did the computer went into a downward spin. I have a feeling that has more to do with some small children in the Philippines than the actual content of the manifesto.

I would say that reading through the manifestos has been a little like a trip to one of Bournemouth's all night eateries. There's a late night burger outlet called Burgerology where the only thing they sell is burgers, basically a burger with various choices of accompaniment: cheese, curry, bacon etc. Well reading through the different ideologies and dogma is a little like reading the menu at Burgerology, there are the same basic themes but with a few twists and turns.

Based on how the policies have been put forward I'd say that the Conservative manifesto is the right one for the country. It is time for a change, it's time for new eyes to view the economy, for new ideas, but I hope that they are not at the expense of a caring society, one that looks after those who genuinely can't look after themselves. The big subjects: NHS and education do not need an axe taken to them, they need to undergo evolution not revolution, the minimum wage legislation must remain and rates increased to replace tax credits, the whole benefits system needs a careful review.

Those born after the 1950's have grown accustomed to a growing economy, to increases in the standards of living, to having what we want rather than what we need. If we are to enter a period of austerity, whether for five or ten years then we need to be told. The country needs strong leadership, it needs a period of sustained confidence and more than anything it needs openness and honesty.