LibDems to launch group to tackle inequality

14 Sep 06
The Liberal Democrats are preparing to launch a working group to examine practical solutions to poverty and inequality.

15 September 2006

The Liberal Democrats are preparing to launch a working group to examine practical solutions to poverty and inequality.

Rank-and file members are due to gather in Brighton next week for their annual conference, where the group, to be chaired by LibDem peer Baroness Liz Barker, will be officially launched.

'We aim to produce practical proposals to ensure that if somebody has potential and is prepared to work hard, their life chances will not be limited by where they come from or who their parents are,' Barker said.

'Equally, for those who are unable to create their own opportunities in life, we will be proposing concrete steps that government should take.'

The LibDems last week published a policy document, Trust in people: make Britain free, fair and green, setting out the party's future direction in the run-up to the next general election.

Launching the document on September 8, party leader Sir Menzies Campbell said inequality had increased under Labour.

'The government has taken a centralist and paternalistic approach to benefit reform. The complexity of the tax credit system has left many on low incomes facing hefty bills for overpayment, and marginal tax rates of over 80%,' he said.

The wide-ranging document puts tackling economic inequality and climate change at the heart of future LibDem campaigning.

Party members will next week debate radical tax proposals that would mean the LibDems abandoning their totemic policy of a 50p tax rate for high earners in favour of a package of tax cuts for low and middle-income families and a new emphasis on environmental taxation.

PFsep2006

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