David Hall-Matthews, LD

Lib Dem PPC (Bradford West),

David Hall-Matthews' endorsement & reply

"Dear campaign team,

Thank you for writing to me about the Fairer Tax Campaign. As you may know, the Liberal Democrats are proposing the most radical tax reform in a generation.

We propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. Our plans will mean that 3.6 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.

To pay for this tax cut the Liberal Democrats will close tax loopholes and allowances which benefit the wealthiest, increase environmental taxes and tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

In relation to the three questions you have posed:

I agree with the principle of the tax changes proposed by the Fairer Tax Campaign although the Liberal Democrats would rebalance the system through our own tax plans as described above

I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. No tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.

Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform of the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government will put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Hazel Thorpe, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Worthing West),

Hazel Thorpe's endorsement & reply

"We propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. Our plans will mean that 3.6 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.

To pay for this tax cut the Liberal Democrats will close tax loopholes and allowances which benefit the wealthiest, increase environmental taxes and tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

In relation to the three questions you have posed:

· I agree with the principle of the tax changes proposed by the Fairer Tax Campaign although the Liberal Democrats would rebalance the system through our own tax plans as described above.

· I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. No tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.

· Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform of the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government will put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Hugh Annand, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (North East Hertfordshire),

Hugh Annand's reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*

*no commitment to act upon the policy

Answer - "Moving the threshold to £10 000 is existing Liberal Democrat policy. We do not believe that lowering the threshold for the 50p rate to £100 000 would raise significant extra revenue, so I would not agree with that. Low earners would reveice the highest proportional benefit from our plans: someone earning £10 000 a year would effectively get an 8% pay rise".

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

Answer - "Yes. Those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden".

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

*not necessarily as specified with the above policy

Answer "Yes - in line with Liberal Democrat policy as set out in our manifesto".

Mark Blackburn, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Westminster North),

Mark Blackburn's reply

Dear Fairer Tax Campaign

"At this late stage I'm afraid I haven't time to write a long email but I would just emphasise that the Lib Dem plans for income tax (the first £10,000 of income untaxed, higher relative taxes for top earners and closed loopholes) are much the fairest of the three main parties".

Kind regards

Mark Blackburn

Westminster Nth

Nick Sandford, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Peterborough),
Nick Sandford's reply

"Lib Dem policy is to raise the tax threshold to £10,000 for everyone and pay for this by removing tax reliefs and tax loopholes for high earners".

Nick Sandford

Mick Taylor, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Leeds Central),

Mick Taylor's reply

"I am in favour of fairer taxes. The Lib Dem position isn’t quite the same as yours, but I’d be willing to push for an even fairer tax regime if elected".

Dr Mick Taylor

Lib Dem, Leeds Central

Richard Whitehouse, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Wolverhampton South East),

Richard Whitehouse's endorsement & reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*

*no commitment to act upon the 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?*

*not necessarily as specified with the above policy

Answer - "Yes".

Aqila Choudhry, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Leeds North East),
Aqila Choudhry's reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*
*no commitment to act upon the 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?*
*not necessarily as specified with the above policy

Answer - "Yes".

Colin Eldridge, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Liverpool Wavertree),
Colin Eldridge's reply

"Dear Fairer Tax Campaign Team,

Thank you for writing to me about the Fairer Tax Campaign. As you may know, the Liberal Democrats are proposing the most radical tax reform in a generation.

We propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. Our plans will mean that 3.6 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.

To pay for this tax cut the Liberal Democrats will close tax loopholes and allowances which benefit the wealthiest, increase environmental taxes and tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

In relation to the three questions you have posed:

I agree with the principle of the tax changes proposed by the Fairer Tax Campaign although the Liberal Democrats would rebalance the system through our own tax plans as described above

I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. No tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.

Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform of the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government will put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Rebecca Taylor, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Rotherham),

Rebecca Taylor's reply

Dear Fairer Tax campaign,

My position on tax is as follows:

- I support Liberal Democrat plans to raise the tax free allowance to £10,000.

- I agree that in principle the rich should pay more in tax than the poor.

- If elected, I would campaign to implement Liberal Democrat fairer tax policies.

Best regards,

Rebecca Taylor

Kristian Chapman, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Aberdeen North),

Kristian Chapman's reply

"Many thanks for your email. I am in full agreement that the tax system in the UK is simply unfair. I, as a Liberal Democrat, fully support the tax policies outlined in our manifesto which will raise the threshold to £10000, close the loopholes for the wealthy and private corporations and start taxing the banks, not the people. At the moment, the poorest 1/5th of our society pays a greater percentage of their income in tax than the wealthiest 1/5th, this is a national disgrace in my opinion. We need a serious reform of our tax system, not minor adjustments that favour the wealthy. We can not make it out of this recession without restoring fairness to the heart of our politics and our economy and that is what the Liberal Democrats are determined to do".

Kindest Regards

Kristian Chapman

Martin Pierce, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (West Ham),
Martin Pierce's endorsement & reply

"The principle of the tax changes you have set out is quite similar to the Lib Dems’ policy, although obviously I would support what’s in our manifesto. I trust you would agree it’s pretty close.

I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. I don’t believe the tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, be progressive and therefore help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.

Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government would put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Martin Pierce
Liberal Democrat candidate for West Ham

Alistair Stevens, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (High Peak),

Alistair Stevens' endorsement & reply

"I agree with the thesis underlying the Fairer Tax Campaign, that the rich should pay more tax and the less well off should pay less tax. In this regard, it is Liberal Democrat policy to raise the tax free personal allowance to £10,000 for all tax payers. This would be paid for in part by taxing capital gains at the same rate as income, overcoming a tax loophole exploited by some high income individuals, and limiting tax relief on pensions to the basic rate - both measures supporting your policy: "The rich should pay more and the poor should pay less". I believe that a single allowance for the vast majority of tax payers would be less complicated and less likely to be subject to mistakes than your idea of having two different tax free allowances depending on income. Therefore, I wholeheartedly answer ‘yes’ to your questions 2 & 3, although I differ with you in some details of how to achieve a fairer tax system".

Yours sincerely

Alistair Stevens

http://www.highpeaklibdems.org.uk/

---

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*
*no commitment to act upon the policy

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

Do you pledge to campaign for income tax reform at the next parliament?*
*not necessarily as specified with the above policy

Simon Clement-Jones, LD

Lib Dem PPC (Sheffield Heeley),

Simon Clement-Jones' reply

"The answer to your three questions are simply yes, yes and yes. I think it is appalling that under this Labour government, the gap between the richest and the poorest in our society has grown so much. While income inequality has remained about the same, wealth inequality – shares and property - has increased. The effect of this on the poorest members of our society is compounded by having one of the most unfair tax systems in the developed world. The wealthiest benefit from special loopholes and the rest of us end up paying more. Labour has failed to make our tax system fair, while the Conservatives’ top priority is tax cuts for millionaires.

Liberal Democrats want to make our tax and benefits system fairer, so that everyone whether young or old can afford to get by. We have plans for the most radical, far-reaching tax reforms in a generation. We will cut taxes for millions of working people and pensioners, paid for by making sure polluters and the very wealthy pay their fair share. We would stop people paying any income tax on the first £10,000 they earn. This would stop 3.4 million low earners paying any income tax at all and would put £700 back into the pocket of low and middle income earners. Our proposed ‘mansion tax’ directly shifts wealth from wealthier to helps us to shift taxation away from people on low and middle incomes – on its own, it could shift hundreds of thousands low-paid workers out of income tax altogether.

We will also boost the state pension by restoring the link with earnings growth, to ensure pensioner income can keep pace and we will crack down on unfair bills. To ensure that the living standards of pensioners improve at the same pace as the rest of the population we will increase the state pension by average earnings, prices or 2.5% whichever is higher. The Government is only committed to increasing the pension in line with earnings from 2012, not the higher of earnings or prices. The Government’s own projections show it expects earnings to increase at a slower rate than prices in 2011-12 which will mean the pension will be cut in real terms and pensioners will feel the pinch".

Adam Symons, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Torridge and West Devon),
Adam Symons' endorsement & reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*
*no commitment to act upon the 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?*
*not necessarily as specified with the above policy
Answer - "Yes".

Adam Carew, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (East Hampshire),
Adam Carew's endorsement & reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*
*no commitment to act upon the 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?*
*not necessarily as specified with the above policy
Answer - "Yes".

Charles West, Lib Dem

Liberal Democrat PPC (Shrewsbury and Atcham),
Charles West's endorsement & reply

"Dear Fairer Tax Campaign,

As a Liberal Democrat, I will be standing at this election on a platform which includes the raising of the personal allowance to £10,000, albeit paid for in a different way (the Liberal Democrats rejected the option of tweaking the additional rate on the basis that many people on such high incomes simply find ways to evade paying income tax altogether, such as contriving to pay capital gains instead).

It will probably not surprise you to learn that I am fairly supportive of your objectives therefore, and indeed the Liberal Democrats would argue that we have the plans needed to make Britain "collectively fairer".

The answer to all three of your questions, therefore, is "yes", with the proviso on question 1 that I advocate a different set of tax increases on the rich".

Yours,
Dr Charles West

Steven Toole, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Eltham),
Steven Toole's endorsement & reply

Do you agree in principle with the aforementioned policy?*
*no commitment to act upon the policy

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

Do you pledge to campaign for income tax reform at the next parliament?*
*not necessarily as specified with the above policy

---

"Dear FTC,

In relation to the three questions you have posed:

I agree with the principle of the tax changes proposed by the Fairer Tax Campaign although the Liberal Democrats would rebalance the system through our own tax plans as described above.

I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. No tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality.

Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform of the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government will put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Dr Steven Toole
LibDem, Eltham

James Raven, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Harwich and North Essex),
James Raven's reply

"I am in priniciple in agreement wiht you - as is much of the Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment to fairness. I do indeed - and have for decades - believe that Britain needs to become collectively fairer. I agree that the gap between the rich and the poor has continued to grow for decades, which has only served to create a divided society. I quite agree that tis is unacceptable for a developed country with one of the largest economies in the world. More needs to be done to tackle the aforementioned disparity. And, yes, fairer income tax is part of the solution".

Sincerely
Professor James Raven
Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Harwich and North Essex

Paul Rowen, Lib Dem

Lib Dem PPC (Rochdale),
Paul Rowen's reply

"Thank you for writing to me about the Fairer Tax Campaign. As you may know, the Liberal Democrats are proposing the most radical tax reform in a generation.

We propose to raise the threshold at which people start paying income tax to £10,000, cutting the average working age person’s income tax bill by £700 and cutting pensioner’s income tax bills by £100. Our plans will mean that 3.6 million people on low incomes will no longer have to pay any income tax at all.

To pay for this tax cut the Liberal Democrats will close tax loopholes and allowances which benefit the wealthiest, increase environmental taxes and tackle tax avoidance and evasion".

In relation to the three questions you have posed:

· "I agree with the principle of the tax changes proposed by the Fairer Tax Campaign although the Liberal Democrats would rebalance the system through our own tax plans as described above".

· "I agree with the principle that the rich should pay more tax and the poor pay less tax. No tax system should try to create total equality of income but it can, and should, help redistribute wealth and power, to alleviate the worst excesses of inequality".

· "Our manifesto includes a clear commitment to reform of the income tax system and this is a policy that we intend to pursue in the next parliament. A Liberal Democrat Government will put in place the necessary tax changes in order to raise the personal allowance to £10,000 for the start of financial year 2011-12".

Paul Rowen
Liberal Democrat Candidate for Rochdale