Local Lib Dem's Manifesto Moment
April 14, 2010 10:00 AM
Graham Oakes with Paddy Ashdown during his recent visit to the city
With the Liberal Democrats launching their manifesto today for one Exeter Lib Dem it will be a particularly special occasion.
Graham Oakes, the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Exeter led the campaign within the party to change the policy on Income Tax. He led a small group of Lib Dem candidates to successfully change the policy to the one in today's manifesto which raises the point at which people start paying tax to £10,000.
He said: "We knew we were on to a winner when Vince Cable endorsed our proposals"
"The present tax system is complicated and regressive. At the moment a city trader pays a lower percentage in tax and the person who cleans his office - that just isn't fair.
"By raising the point at which people start paying Income Tax we give a much needed tax break to people working on minimum wage, to pensioners with small private pensions and to students working their way through university.
"Naturally I'm thrilled to see my policy as our lead idea in the manifesto, but the other policies are also great for Britain. A fairer deal for pensioners and our armed forces, more police on the streets, protection for the NHS and more green jobs.
"It will be good to see the back of ID cards and attacks on civil liberties like 30 day detention without charge.
"Reform of the political system, previously blocked by Labour and the Conservatives, is long overdue.
Four key pledges
Fair taxes: We will ensure no-one pays income tax on the first £10,000 they earn. Most taxpayers will get a tax cut of £700 a year. We'll pay for it by closing loopholes that unfairly benefit the rich, a new tax on mansions worth over £2m, a crack down on tax avoidance and higher aviation duty.
A fair start for all our children: We will get every child the individual attention they need by cutting class sizes. We will spend an extra £2.5bn on schools, targeted at children who need the most help. The average primary school could cut class sizes to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16.
A fair future: a rebalanced, green economy: We will break up the banks and rebalance the economy away from unsustainable financial speculation. We will be honest about where savings must be made in government spending to balance the books and protect our children's future. And we will create new jobs with a £3.1bn green stimulus and job creation plan in our first year in office, fully funded by cut backs elsewhere.
A fair deal from politicians: We will introduce a fair voting system. We will ensure corrupt MPs can be sacked by their constituents and stop non-doms from donating to parties or sitting in Parliament. We will take power from Westminster and give it to communities, with local power over police and the NHS, and introduce a freedom bill to protect and restore civil liberties.
We also have the following commitments:
• Protect front line NHS services. We will help the NHS work better with the money it has and protect front line services by re-investing the savings we find back into healthcare
• Recruit 3,000 more police officers to keep our streets safe and scrapping ID cards
• Scrap student tuition fees to reduce the burden of student debt immediately and eliminate fee debt altogether over 6 years
• A pay rise for our brave service men and women together with cut backs of bureaucrats and top brass officers in the Ministry of Defence
• Uprate the basic state pension in line with earnings immediately so that pensioners do not fall further behind when the
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