Budget 2008: Punish Labour over 10p tax row, Cameron tells Welsh voters
Saturday, 26 April 2008 12:00 AM
David Cameron has called on the electorate to 'punish' the Labour party over its controversial abolition of the 10p tax band.
The Conservative party chief was speaking to voters in south Wales during a campaign trip ahead of Welsh local council polls next week.
Mr Cameron told voters that the government's plans to abolish the lowest rate of income tax, resulting in people in the income bracket having to pay 20 per cent of their taxable income to the treasury rather than the previous 10 per cent, would exacerbate the problem of debt in the country.
Speaking in Cardiff, the opposition leader said: "I've just been listening to candidates and councillors from the Vale of Glamorgan and they have been saying to me that the 10p tax rate is coming up again and again.
"Labour are punishing the low-paid and the people of Wales should turn around and punish the Labour Party."
Prime minister Gordon Brown has faced opposition from his own party over the plans resulting in chancellor Alistair Darling telling the House of Commons that a proposal to assist pensioners under 65 and workers with no children was under consideration.
The government had previously vowed to stand by its proposals to cut income tax from 22 per cent to 20 per cent and to scrap the lowest tax band.
A YouGov poll published in the Daily Telegraph today shows the Conservative party holding a 21-year-record lead over Labour with an 18-point advantage.
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