Comment
More devil in the detail
THERE are two ways of looking at Gordon
Brown's promise to compensate pensioners,
the young and childless people on
low incomes who will suffer from the loss
of the 10p tax rate.
It will be argued by some that it is the
action of a man who is big enough to acknowledge
a mistake and do something
about it. But it is not an argument which
will be promoted by many.
By far the majority will see it as an enforced
U-turn in the face of a mounting revolt
by Labour MPs appalled that a
Labour government could walk into such
a public relations disaster by being seen
to be attacking the poor.
Two weeks ago, Mr Brown was insisting
there were no losers and there was no
need for him to compensate anyone.
The truth now is that he had no choice
but to come up with a package of measures
aimed at nullifying the damage -
and he is not a man who would have found
it easy to back down.
No matter how passionately he may
point to the Labour Government's track
record on tackling poverty - via tax credits
and the minimum wage - he must wish
he had not taken the step of axing the 10p
tax rate.
It is remarkable how a man renowned as
a rock solid Chancellor, so trusted with
the nation's economic fortunes, has seen
his reputation so swiftly eroded. The dependable
Chancellor has become the
dithering Prime Minister and this U-turn
over the poor has undoubtedly fuelled
that perception.
As with Gordon Brown's announcements,
the devil is in the detail and the full
effects are often not felt for some time.
The announcement about the 10p tax
rate was made 13 months ago, yet only
now is its full impact being realised.
His promised package of compensation
is not due to be detailed until the end of
the year. We must watch very closely to
ensure that the promises turn into real
money.
12:17pm Thursday 24th April 2008
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