HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Nick Clegg's "emergency tax" on the wealthy a good idea

HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Nick Clegg's "emergency tax" on the wealthy a good idea HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Nick Clegg's "emergency tax" on the wealthy a good idea

Nick Clegg has called on Britain's wealthiest to make an "extra contribution" to the "national effort" of economic recovery.

In an interview with the Guardian, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested people of "very considerable personal wealth" could make a "time limited contribution" as the country faced a "longer economic war".

The Lib Dem leader is expected to flesh out his thoughts on a possible "wealth tax" at the party's autumn conference in Brighton next month, according to the report.

Mr Clegg told the newspaper: "If we are going to ask people for more sacrifices over a longer period of time, a longer period of belt tightening as a country, then we just have to make sure that people see it is being done as fairly and as progressively as possible.

"While I am proud of some of the things we have done as a government I actually think we need to really hard-wire fairness into what we do in the next phases of fiscal restraint. If we don't do that I don't think the process will be either socially or politically sustainable or acceptable."

His comments appear to indicate a renewed bid to better differentiate his party's economic approach within the Coalition with Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives.

Mr Clegg added: "If we want to remain cohesive and prosperous as a society, people of very considerable personal wealth have got to make a bit of an extra contribution.

"In addition to our standing policy on things like the mansion tax is there a time limited contribution you can ask in some way or another from people of considerable wealth so they feel they are making a contribution to the national effort? What we are embarked on is in some senses a longer economic war rather than a short economic battle."

Commenting on the interview, Chris Leslie, Labour's shadow treasury minister, said: "Nick Clegg is once again taking the British people for fools. He talks about a tax on the wealthiest, but he voted for the tax cut for millionaires in George Osborne's Budget.

"And he has supported a failing economic plan which has pushed Britain into a double-dip recession and is leading to borrowing going up by a quarter so far this year."

Comments(16)

Cerdicjute says...
12:02pm Wed 29 Aug 12

How about we abolish expenses for MPs and members of the Lords? Every little helps.

The Liberal says...
12:13pm Wed 29 Aug 12

At last, Clegg does something right. Trouble is, as he undoubtedly knows, the Tories would never permit it.

ben111 says...
12:22pm Wed 29 Aug 12

what is classed as wealthy

afcb-mark says...
12:27pm Wed 29 Aug 12

If we stopped giving so much away to other countries 'poor' we might be able to look after our own poor and pensioners a bit better. Charity should start at home.

Merleyman says...
12:27pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Completely ridiculous idea. Purely a statement to attract some left wing votes, but can never be sustainable or practical to enforce.

dvdr says...
12:47pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Have the "wealthy" not already paid tax on what they have - and at a higher rate than those not wealthy?

The Lib-Dems are clearly on the way out, hastened by their nonsense leader!

We desperately need another general election, in an attempt to clear out the greedy and useless politicians cluttering up the system.

djkent says...
12:58pm Wed 29 Aug 12

most of the weathly own buisness and pay alot of tax already get rid of the foreigners that dont pay tax and make prisoners live in dumps with no tv and cosy beds

fedupwithjobsworths says...
1:04pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Perhaps MP's should give up their gold plated index linked pensions - they have the most generous scheme allowed under pension rules

ekimnoslen says...
1:06pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Why not just get on with the job of closing the tax loopholes which currently allow the wealthy to legitimately avoid tax. Not difficult. Simply any scheme designed primarily to avoid paying tax would be illegal.

Huey says...
1:35pm Wed 29 Aug 12

The headline should be "Is Nick Clegg a good idea?".
Does anyone really believe anything he says after he broke his election promises?
Does anyone trust him to keep his word?
Seeing as his boss is a Tory, what are these plans ever going to come to?

hrryseccombe says...
1:56pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Good idea, couldn't we tax the corporations too, most of them funnel our money straight off-shore without paying any Tax.(a lot of the politicians are tax dodgers or are involved in tax dodging businesses, just read private eye)

"A global super-rich elite has exploited gaps in cross-border tax rules to hide an extraordinary £13 trillion ($21tn) of wealth offshore – as much as the American and Japanese GDPs put together – according to research commissioned by the campaign group Tax Justice Network"

Gaurdian 21/7/2012

yep that's 13,000,000,000,000 pounds sterling which is 21,000,000,000,000 dollars.

http://www.guardian.
co.uk/business/2012/
jul/21/global-elite-
tax-offshore-economy
?fb=native&CMP=FBCNE
TTXT9038

penhale says...
2:03pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Unfortunately it doesn't make any difference how much tax anybody pays into this country as they will simply waste it on some other hair brained scheme and then stuff us all again with fuel tax rises and council tax rises, we are not a bottomless pit.
The ordinary working person in this country had no part to play in the situation this country is in at the moment, only the bankers and politicians are at fault.
As someone said earlier stop paying money to so called third world countries who have their own rocket and nuclear weapons programmes, stop taking in foreigners who have paid nothing into the system but reap all the benefits, stop paying MPs expenses, there are loads of options to save money but then it's not their money, it's ours, so they don't really care, above all lets get rid of scammeron and Clegg at the earliest oppertunity.
We don't need to be taxed more, we need money put back into our pockets in order to revive our economy.

Aviewoneverything says...
2:28pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Whils I'm not rich myself and believe that those that are should pay that little bit more, I think the best way we can save some money is by stopping all benefit payments to all the alcoholics, drug abusers and lazy bone idol gits that refuse to work, because they get more on the dole than from doing lower paid jobs. The welfare state is being totally abused and we are letting it happen by turning a blind eye or sympathising with these lazy swines.

Phixer says...
3:21pm Wed 29 Aug 12

Aviewoneverything wrote:
Whils I'm not rich myself and believe that those that are should pay that little bit more, I think the best way we can save some money is by stopping all benefit payments to all the alcoholics, drug abusers and lazy bone idol gits that refuse to work, because they get more on the dole than from doing lower paid jobs. The welfare state is being totally abused and we are letting it happen by turning a blind eye or sympathising with these lazy swines.
Are you thinking of running for PM next time?

How would you deal with all the vested interests?

Dibby1966 says...
8:19pm Wed 29 Aug 12

What gimmick is this? Clegg should give his own wealth away if he is that concerned. They give away billions to the corrupt EU, we borrow billions to give away in foreign aid,drop hundreds of millions of pounds on Libya in the form of bombs, corrupt banks still paying out huge bonuses .."er hellooo Nick, what planet are you on? You gotta huge great elephant in your room"

bosco1 says...
8:29am Fri 31 Aug 12

Stop the Giveaways, 1. Stop paying benefits to the lazy people who WONT work and never intend to. 2 Stop paying benefits to the Foreigners who havent contributed anything into our funds. 3 Allow british people to retire on a decent pension at 60 making jobs available for the youngsters who in turn will pay tax and fill the empty tax pot back up. Maybe its time for a new PM. !! ?

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