Monday 23 July 2007 3:05 pm
A Liberal Democrat proposal for fair taxation of the wealthy was voted down by Labour MPs in the House of Commons last week (Monday 16 July), while the Tories sat on their hands. Jeremy Corbyn voted against and Emily Thornberry joined Conservative MPs in abstaining. The motion was proposed in an opposition day debate led by Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable.

Under Gordon Brown, tax has become less fair. Council tax hits pensioners hard. Middle-income families are disproportionately burdened by stamp duty and inheritance tax thresholds, while the poorest tax payers now pay double since Gordon Brown abolished the 10p starting rate for income tax.

We are calling for the closure of loopholes in capital gains tax which allow the very wealthy to pay less tax than their cleaners. We also want to reduce the higher rate relief that the highest earners get on pension contributions, and increase green taxes. This would allow the basic rate of income tax to be cut, and council tax to be abolished and included in income tax instead.

This is a particular problem for Islington families where all homes come above the stamp duty threshold, and the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. I think it's wrong that private equity millionaires pay less tax than their cleaners. It's disgraceful that Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry failed to vote for fairer taxes.