Conservatives clueless on economy (Bristol East Liberal Democrats)

Bristol East Liberal Democrats <info@bristoleastlibdems.org.uk>

Conservatives clueless on economy

January 28, 2009 10:53 PM

With job losses mounting and businesses going to the wall, the Conservatives are struggling to find anything useful to say on the economy. All they have come up with so far is an inheritance tax cut for millionaires and a tiny tax cut for savers, which for many would not even cover the price of a weekly loaf of bread.

Labour's temporary cut in VAT has failed to save people from job losses, business from bankruptcy and the economy from recession. Instead, over 1,000 jobs have gone at M&S, Woolies have gone forever, Viyella, Adams and Officers Club have gone into administration and Nissan have lain off 1,200. And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Other companies, big and small, are going to the wall or announcing job losses each day.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg and his Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable warned back in November, when the cut was announced, that it would not work. With shops slashing prices by up to 75%, a mere 2.5% VAT cut made no difference to sales. Shops are now reporting their worst seasonal sales for decades.

"People need money in their pockets now," said Bristol East Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate Mike Popham. "Only the Liberal Democrats are calling for a cut in income tax to help people through the bad economic storm. Gordon Brown wasted £12 billion on the VAT cut but has failed to save a single person from the dole queue or stop businesses going bust. Only the Liberal Democrats are calling for a cut in income tax to help people through the bad economic storm. Labour's temporary VAT cut has failed to stop the recession and the Conservatives are clueless on how to help Britain back to work." said Mike.