Saturday, September 24, 2005
SPEAKING UP AT PARTY CONFERENCE
LOCAL LIB.DEMS. IN BLACKPOOL
It's the Party annual conference season again and two Chingford and Woodford Green campaigners for the LibDems, Geoff Seeff, who stood as the parliamentary candidate in Romford at the General Election, and John Beanse, who stood in Chingford & Woodford Green in 2001 and in May this year, were in Blackpool at the party conference, making their presence felt.
One matter that exercised both Geoff and John was the establishment of a special commission to review LibDem tax policy. Whilst welcoming the review of policy, both Geoff & John felt very strongly that it was important to maintain a commitment to the principles of progressive taxation and a higher marginal tax rate.
Geoff said "It is a fallacy to think that the 50% tax rate on high incomes will act as a disincentive to professionals and entrepreneurs. Many people in this category of earners are proud to make their fair contribution to society whilst as for those who are ignorant or selfish, they need to be reminded that it is the social and physical infrastructure, paid for by society as a whole, that enables them to achieve their level of earnings. We have something very wrong in the UK today when a new graduate earning £20,000 per year trying to repay a student loan is in effect paying a marginal tax rate of over 60% when someone earning over £100,000 pays a marginal rate of 40%".
John Beanse emphasised that he had been proud to campaign earlier this year on the policy of a higher rate of tax for high earners - not just because of how the money could be put to good effect, but because it was a clear demonstration that - alone among the major parties - the Liberal Democrats were prepared to work in this way towards a fairer society.
** This contribution was reported in the TIMES the next day.
He also spoke in the debate on the way ahead for the party and expanded on the theme of needing a vision of a fairer society in British politics. This was not just about "fairness for ME" - we live in a society which is too often self-centred - it is about encouraging our citizens to take account of the needs of the less fortunate. He gave particular examples of how we need to give a better deal to elderly people.
# posted by John Beanse @ 5:30 PM 
