Curse Of The 10p Tax Rate

So the Labour party leadership - in the shape of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls - have finally stuck the knife into their old boss - Gordon Brown.

Because the Labour party finally admitted yesterday - while in opposition it has to be said - that abolishing the 10p tax rate was a really big mistake. 

Now I've been saying so for years - as the following post from June 2011 confirms - and so did many Labour backbenchers at the time.

Frank Field - for example - who spoke out and criticised the behaviour of his own party leader and Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

But Ed Miliband and Ed Balls sat on their hands of course - in fact they did much more than that by voting to support the measure in House of Commons at the time - because they were trusted lieutenants, Government Ministers and part of Gordon Brown's 'inner circle'.

To me though they are both spineless cowards who failed to do the right thing at the time - but who now say they will do the right thing in future.

If only we're all daft enough to vote them back into government.   

Aye, right - as they say.

Curse Of The 10p Tax Rate (11 June 2011)

The most damaging revelation to emerge from 'Ballsgate affair' - is that Gordon Brown and the last Labour government knew exactly what they were doing - when they abolished the 10p tax rate.

The Telegraph reports today that government ministers received a 15-page analysis - on the impact of scrapping the 10p income tax band.

The document warned ministers that the move would leave more than 10 million low-income workers, families and pensioners - worse off.

At the time, Gordon Brown denied the policy would have any such impact - and carried on regardless.

As the furore grew inside and outside the Labour party - the Prime Minister was to offer some emergency compensation - for those hit by the tax changes.

A leaked document from the Telegraph's Ed Balls files - shows that long before the policy was announced Treasury officials asked the question:

'Who loses from the abolition of the 10p tax rate?'

The answer was clear and unequivocal - 6 million pensioner households and 5.25 million households receiving working or child tax credits.

So the notion that the government did not understand the real significance of its decision - was clearly a load of baloney.

Whatever else Gordon Brown was - he was a master of detail - and with 10 years experience under his belt as Labour Chancellor - he knew exactly what he was doing.

The truth is he just screwed up - big time - and his premiership never recovered.