Steve Churchman, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Dwyfor Meirionnydd),
Steve Churchman's reply

"Many thanks for your email. The three questions you raise underly the more important fundamental point of "Fair Tax". This is one of my campaign themes here in Dwyfor-Meirionnydd and I am currently distributing a leaflet on this very point.

I believe in Fair Tax, based upon ability to pay. I see no point in asking the poorer paid to contribute a large proportion of their income - or else there is no point in them working. Hence some people just don't want to work.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a big permanent tax cut for all income tax payers. Currently, people on lower and middle incomes pay a larger part of their earnings in tax than wealthy people. Under the Liberal Democrat plans, no one would pay any tax on the first £10,000 they earned. The plans would mean that 4 million of the lowest paid workers in the UK wouldn’t have to pay tax at all, including 11,100 in my own county of Gwynedd alone. Now to give a straight answer (unusual for a politician?) to the three questions":

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?

Answer - "Yes".

In a generic sense, do you believe that the rich should pay more tax and the poor should pay less tax?

Answer - "Yes".

Do you pledge to campaign for income tax reform at the next parliament?

Answer - "Yes. Already implied in my answer, the Lib Dems are committed to tax reforms".