Freedom Central » Vince Cable

Vince Cable pushes for tax on wealth in the budget

Freedom Central — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:19:34 +0000

Today’s Telegraph reports that Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable is pushing for a mansion tax to be introduced on properties worth more than £2million in this year’s Budget.

They say that while the policy is likely to be opposed by George Osborne, the Chancellor, Mr Cable said that he had spoken to Conservative MPs who backed the plan:

“A mansion tax is still very much on the agenda – it is a very good idea,” Mr Cable told The Sunday Telegraph.

“It is good for two reasons,’’ he said. ”It would constitute a tax on wealth rather than income, which we believe to be right, and also in economic terms it creates the right sort of incentives for the property market.”

Mr Cable added that it was “perverse” that rich “foreigners” could buy expensive properties in Britain and contribute just £1,000 a year in council tax towards the public finances.

The paper adds that the Liberal Democratss will seek to raise the issue of a mansion tax as they negotiate with Tory ministers in the run-up to the Budget on March 21.

They say that other tax proposals will feature in the talks, including the prospect of scrapping tax relief on pension contributions for higher rate taxpayers and a curb on stamp duty avoidance, which is believed to cost the Exchequer £750 million a year.

Kirsty Williams voted as one of the top performing senior Lib Dems

Thomas Woodward — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:00:19 +0000

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams, has been named as one of the top performing senior Liberal Democrats in a party members’ survey.

In the Lib Dem Voice December 2011 survey, Kirsty Williams AM’s leadership of the party was given an overwhelming vote of confidence when she was named the most effective non-Member of Parliament in the party.

Kirsty, who generally enjoys positive poll ratings, is now considered in the top five performing senior Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom with a net satisfaction score of +45%.

The survey of 564 members is calculated by the difference between the number of members saying they are satisfied compared to dissatisfied.

The top five Liberal Democrats in the December 2011 survey, with their net scores, were:

1. Vince Cable: +63%
2. Tim Farron: +60%
3. Lynne Featherstone: +53%
4. Steve Webb: +51%
5.= Simon Hughes: +45%
5.= Kirsty Williams: +45%

Cable pledges crackdown on fat cat pay

Freedom Central — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:45:17 +0000

Business Secretary Vince Cable has pledged to crack down on excessive pay for senior executives as Lib Dems meet for day two of their annual conference. He believes that shareholders should have a bigger say in executive pay.

Mr. Cable signalled moves to make it easier for ordinary shareholders to prevent company bosses being awarded huge sums. The Business Secretary said remuneration among company executives had “exploded” and UK firms had a “particular problem”.

“The performance of companies has not demonstrably improved, yet people are being paid an awful lot more. There’s something happening that isn’t right,” he said.

“You don’t have this problem to anything like the same extent in Scandinavia, Germany, France. It’s a particular feature of our markets.

“There is lots of evidence of reward for failure.”

The Government has ruled out attempting to cap or fix salaries but could make it easier for shareholders to vote on pay in advance, and ensure that their views are binding.

The Business Secretary said: “We wouldn’t want to fix salaries; it is not practical.

“The other route is to try to influence companies directly through their shareholders – getting the shareholders to be more active in influencing pay.

“We will in due course be setting out exactly how.”

St David’s Day could be a showcase for investment and tourism as well as a celebration of Wales’ national day

Freedom Central — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:08:50 +0000

Speaking at the Welsh Liberal Democrat Conference on Saturday Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills’ said:

“The ‘yes’ vote in the referendum means that the Welsh government now has the tools to do the job that is has requested and a new era of Welsh devolution begins.

“The announcement earlier this week that the government will electrify the Great Western Mainline, improving journeys times from London to Swansea is positive news for the Welsh economy and evidence of the coalition investing in rail infrastructure where Labour failed in their 13 years in power.

“Less commented upon, but also of huge importance will be the electrification of the Valley lines to Cardiff.

“I am also pleased that the coalition government is now consulting on the possibility of making St David’s Day a public holiday, which itself could be a showcase for investment and tourism as well as a celebration of Wales’ national day.

“Wales’ economic issues run deep and the impact of the loss of much of its manufacturing base in the 1980s is still felt. With the right support, we can establish the growth in the private sector that Wales needs.

“Of course, not all of the economic levers rest in either Cardiff or London. It will require governments of different colours working together to rebuild the Welsh economy.

“By setting out a clear plan to tackle Labour’s deficit, the coalition has headed off financial disaster and the basis for a revival in manufacturing is in place.

“The policies that Kirsty Williams set out today, to focus relentlessly on the need to create new jobs and prosperity by investing in home-grown Welsh enterprises is exactly the approach needed in Wales and elsewhere.

“We are now at a turning point, where manufacturing is reviving, especially in high tech innovative firms and with Welsh strength in agriculture and tourism, there is every prospect, with the right policies and leadership, of a Welsh economic renaissance.”

A right old rollocking

Newswire — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:56:06 +0000

Vince Cable came to Welsh Liberal Democrat conference to describe to delegates what he called ‘the Kirsty Williams welcome’:

‘A big smile, followed by a kiss and then followed by a right rollocking about what we should be doing for Wales!’

Since this time he came announcing that he’s consulting on a St David’s Day public holiday. He’ll have been pleased not to have had the full treatment.

In the post

Freedom Central — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:54:09 +0000

Labour and Plaid Cymru MPs are treading a predictable route when they claim that the Coalition Government´s proposal to privatise Royal Mail could lead to the end of daily deliveries in rural and Valley areas.

In fact, the commitment by Vince Cable and Ed Davey to retain the Universal Service Obligation means that this will not be the outcome of the legislation. Those deliveries are guaranteed as at present.

What the privatisation will do is to help to eradicate the Royal Mail’s £8.4bn pension shortfall, a matter that Labour failed to deal with. The Royal Mail´s letters division is also making a loss of £333 million a year, something that Hywel Williams appears to have missed when he claims that all sections of the Royal Mail are in the black for the first time.

Labour´s difficulty of course is that the Coalition Government´s proposals are very similar to those being proposed by Peter Mandelson when he was the responsible Labour Minister. The difference is that under Vince Cable´s plans at least 10% of shares will go to employees, while the Post Office may be mutualised. The staff share scheme will be the biggest of its kind – larger than those of British Telecom, British Gas or British Airways.

Equally as important are the Government´s plans for the Post Office. Here we have real Liberal Democrat influence at work. Vince plans to sink an additional £1.3bn into the Post Office network over the next four years.

“The funding will be used to reform the current network, to change the underlying economics and so reverse the years of decline and secure its long-term future,” he said.

“I repeat – there will be no programme of closures under this Government and the Post Office will be able to invest, improve its offer and win new revenue streams.”

No wonder Labour are squealing. Their Post Office closure programme and their failure to tackle the failings of the Royal Mail are being exposed by effective government action from a Liberal Democrat Minister.

Royal Mail privatisation

Freedom Central — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:16:47 +0000

Over at Liberal Democrat Voice Iain Roberts points out that proposals to privatise the Royal Mail are very much in line with party policy but that does not mean that we should allow the position to be misrepresented:

The Government is not proposing to privatise the Post Office. And what’s being proposed, far from being a u-turn, is Lib Dem policy. It was in our manifesto and now we’re delivering on it.

Here’s what the Lib Dem manifesto says on the subject

Give both Royal Mail and post offices a long-term future, by separating Post Office Ltd from the Royal Mail and retaining Post Office Ltd in full public ownership. 49 per cent of Royal Mail will be sold to create funds for investment. The ownership of the other 51 per cent will be divided between an employee trust and the government.

So the proposal was to split the two, retain Post Office Ltd and privatise Royal Mail (with under 50% remaining in government ownership).

As Cable has said, the plan has modified slightly following further reports on the Royal Mail:

Outside investors will hold the most shares, and the rest will be offered to Royal Mail staff. Pension liabilities will be taken on by the government.

There is, of course, a very good reason for this Lib Dem policy.

Unlike previous Labour and Conservative governments, the Lib Dems do not want to preside over the closure of hundreds and thousands of local Post Office branches. Keeping the Post Office in public ownership is important.

The original intention was to use some of the proceeds to invest in the Post Office network, but more importantly when it comes to selling this proposal is the position of the Royal Mail pension fund.

This is to be retained by the Government and the proceeds of the sale used to pay off the deficit on that fund. There is no other way in the current economic climate of ensuring that Royal Mail workers can be guaranteed to receive all their benefits on retirement.

That is also why Ministers in the previous Labour Government offered similar proposals for a sell-off. They got stiff opposition and there is no reason not to expect the same now. What should sustain the coalition is that this is the right decision. It is not based on ideology as opponents will suggest but on sound pragmatism. The Government need to get that across.

Vince Cable set to propose graduate tax

Freedom Central — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:37:17 +0000

The BBC report that Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable is to propose a graduate tax for students in England in place of the present tuition fee regime.

This would mean these students would repay the costs of going to university through taxation once they began working. At present, the government lends students money to cover the cost of fees, with this loan paid back when students enter work, until the loan is paid off. Under a graduate tax, the amount paid would depend upon earnings – compared with the current system in which a fixed amount is paid back.

The BBC suggest that such a change could draw the political sting from the tuition fee debate – with Liberal Democrat MPs having personally signed pledges to oppose an increase in fees:

Mr Cable, whose department is responsible for universities, is also set to suggest ways of cutting the costs of higher education to both taxpayers and students – such as promoting two-year degrees and more students living at home.

University students are waiting to hear how much courses will cost Another proposal will be for more university courses to be franchised out – with universities accrediting courses which are taught by other institutions.

There will also be calls for a wider role for private providers in higher education – and there have been suggestions that private providers will want to expand into subjects such as teacher training and healthcare.

How this will impact on Wales has to be seen but it should open up the possibility of the Welsh Government following suit. The Assembly does not currently have the power to impose this sort of taxation.

Welsh Lib Dem Shadow Education Minister, Jenny Randerson AM said:

“The Welsh Lib Dems remain firmly opposed to fees, and this announcement has the potential to put in place a progressive alternative, based on ability to pay, measured by the income gain of someone’s University Education.

“Wales now has to find a way to adapt to these plans, as the effect here in Wales will be significant. It is a proposal that I am sure all progressive parties will look at in close detail.

Vince Cable on the 2010 budget

Freedom Central — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 05:53:20 +0000

Vince Cable Speech to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference

Freedom Central — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:35:48 +0000