No ifs, no buts. Alistair Darling has produced a master stroke at a time when everyone on low pay/pension could do with a little extra. I promised to head for Crewe if the compensation package was unequivocal. A quick check on Virgin trains website is offering £22.15 day returns from London for those of us on Senior railcards. As one of the unintended beneficiaries that is five trips to help with the campaign. Or if any comrade could offer lodgings....
Alistair Darling is to make a statement in the House of Commons on compensation for the 10p tax losers. For a man known better from his managerial talent than his charisma, this is his moment to prove his detractors mistaken. I hope he can rise to the occasion - confirm that Labour is willing to risk over-compensating the low-paid whether in work or retirement to put this matter to rest. No ifs, no buts. Got to be done.
If done unequivocally, I will be heading for Crewe too.
The 10p tax saga ain't over yet. Jeremy Paxman's interview with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Labour slow-learner Yvette Cooper exposed her failure to read the letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown Alistair Darling to the chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee John McFall.
The letter states:
As a sign of the government's intent, we do not wish to wait unnecessarily until November. Whatever conclusions we come to, all the changes will be backdated to the start of this financial year.
Politically the message is crystal clear. Vote Labour on 1 May. Labour really is on your side.
What is less clear is whether that commitment just refered to pensioners/retirees aged 60 to 64 irrespective of gender, or all 5.3 million (or however many) adversely affected by the abolition of the 10p tax band. Questions about how that commitment can be achieved are all over the media.
But for us in the Labour Party, Alistair Darling's swift response, as soon as Gordon Brown admitted there were losers from his decision, deserves acknowledgement throughout the Party, whether in the Balls/Cooper household, No 10, or every CLP in the country. There is an urgent need to build the case for open and transparent progressive taxation. All the political ingredients are to hand - greedy, failing fat cats bankers, a Labour government that understands political economy, a nation committed to fairness.
Labour launches an internal policy review next Friday as soon as the polls close. This must feature as a major consideration, surely? Oh, and the 10p tax compensation has to be for all and back-dated. Vigilance is vital.
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