Date published: 2005/09/18
The BBC says:
Vincent Cable does not come across as a man suited to the daily grind of British politics.
The Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman - a donnish, Cambridge-educated economist - would seem to appear more at home deciding policy from on high than canvassing in Conservative marginals or delivering soundbites for TV.
But he realises that turning Britain's third party into an election-winning force is a "long slog".
In this summer's general election, the Lib Dems won 62 seats, more than at any time since the 1920s but still well short of the influence Mr Cable craves.
The gain of 11 MPs was "not particularly disappointing", he said, although this was towards the bottom end of expectations.
...
The economy - Mr Cable's area of expertise - is seen as the key to making the party electable.Its big policies here are quite well known - local income tax to replace council tax and a 50% income tax rate for those earning above £100,000.
Yet, even Mr Cable admits that the latter, the most "progressive" policy among the main three parties, is not a "sacred cow".
Taxation will form one of the main debates at the Liberal Democrat conference in Blackpool next week.
Mr Cable said: "I don't have any sacred cows. The 50% rate has become a kind of totemic policy.
"It has some advantages. It's simple and it sends a clear redistributive signal and fulfils quite a lot of remits
"But, like most developed countries, we are moving to lower marginal tax rates.
"I'm looking for a balanced debate within the party and our aims and looking at other ways to achieve them.
"Taxes shouldn't be higher; they should be fairer. We must be a party that's disciplined. We must make tough choices."
One possible option is the system of "flat taxes", adopted by several eastern European countries recently and popular with some Conservatives.
Under this method, all tax payers are charged the same rate.
Supporters say this is fairer and simpler than the current system, especially if the threshold at which people start paying is made higher, say £10,000 or £15,000.
Opponents think flat tax is a way of making the rich richer which hits middle-earners disproportionately.
Mr Cable said: "We certainly ought to have a look at this. We shouldn't have an instinctive negative reaction.
"The local income tax is a flat tax, as everyone would pay the same rate.
"You could help people at the bottom end by raising the level at which people start paying, but this could hit middle-income households, which could have some nasty and unpopular consequences.
"There's a need for fresh thinking."
Any Liberal Democrat tax policy, he says, will show a "commitment to fairness and social justice".
As everyone knows, a "fair" tax is one that someone else pays. And this is the problem that every political party in Britain (and in most of the world) refuses to acknowledge. Everybody wants lots of services (a decent education, a wonderful health service, etc.) but nobody wants to pay for any of it. Heck let the "rich" (however that is defined) pay for it. Perhaps some day the UK "middle-income" households will (sensibly) expect to pay for the services they want. A flat (income) tax is appealing if nothing else because it is simple (unfortunately simplicity is the enemy of the current chancellor, Gordon Brown). And, needless to say, with a flat tax, the rich still pay much more (as an absolute amount) than the poor. And why is it that the chattering classes of Britain think that the government is a wiser or better or more "socially just" spender of citizens' incomes (or wealth) than the citizens themselves? And, unfortunately for the Lib Dems, Vincent Cable does nothing to inspire.
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