Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Guildford Zöe Franklin’s anger as Chancellor’s budget “Stealth Tax” measures are rubber stamped.
"Low and middle earners paying the bill for Conservative economic disaster"
Guildford's MP, Angela Richardson, was among 315 Conservatives who voted through the Chancellor's "stealth tax" in Parliament this week.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, MP for neighbouring South West Surrey, announced the plan to freeze income tax thresholds.
- The amount workers can earn before paying the 20% basic rate of tax is frozen at £12,570.
- Workers will pay 40% tax on earnings from £50,271.
Liberal Democrat candidate Zöe Franklin:
"Freezing tax allowances, instead of raising them to keep up with the spiralling cost of living, drags people into higher tax brackets and means no matter what you earn, as your earnings increase, a bigger proportion of your earnings goes on tax."
"The Conservative Government has trashed the economy and now people in our area are paying the price for incompetence and failure."
The Institute of Fiscal Studies called the Autumn Statement a "shock to Middle England" because of this tax rise, with squeezed-middle families being hit hardest. It said household disposable income is set to fall by 7% over the next two years.
Ms Franklin added:
"People in Guildford are telling me they are already struggling and worry how they will cope after being hit by the "stealth tax" coming their way.
"The Government must reverse tax cuts for banks, estimated to be worth £18 billion over the next five years. The Liberal Democrats are also calling for a fund to help people unable to afford their mortgages after interest rates spiralled in the wake of Liz Truss's disastrous budget, and more help for renters including by ending no-fault evictions.
"People in Guildford will rightly be furious that our Conservative MP Angela Richardson supported this move to make us pay to clean up the Government's mess.
"It is fundamentally wrong for the cost of the government's incompetence and chaos to fall on ordinary people, rather than the richest corporations.
"At the next election, it will be a clear choice between continued incompetence and pain under the Conservatives or a local Liberal Democrat who will show leadership and stand up for people in Guildford."
Further Information
Full list of Conservative MPs who voted in favour of the tax hikes
https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1400
Motion in full:
3. Basic rate limit and personal allowance for tax years 2026-27 and 2027-28
That (notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the practice of the House relating to the matters that may be included in Finance Bills) provision may be made for each of the following amounts to remain at their current amounts for the tax years 2026-27 and 2027-28-
(a)the amount specified in section 10(5) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (basic rate limit), and
(b)the amount specified in section 35(1) of that Act (personal allowance).
An extra 2.6 million taxpayers will be dragged into 40p tax by 2028, according to the OBR (p. 33).
Using the OBR's inflation forecasts we have calculated what the income tax Personal Allowance and Higher Rate threshold would be each year, if it weren't for the Income Tax threshold freeze. Based on that, we can calculate that a basic rate taxpayer in 2028 will pay £566 extra compared to a scenario where the personal allowance had been uprated.