Cut income tax to help people through hard times

2.53.21pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 1st Oct 2008

Like everyone else in the country, residents of Bexley are suffering from rocketing food and energy prices.

The government's own figures show that bread is up a fifth, butter and eggs by over a third and potatoes by over a quarter.

Duncan Borrowman, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Old Bexley & Sidcup joined forces recently with the Lib Dems' Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP to highlight the real increase in the cost of living.

They took a supermarket basket of basic groceries which together cost less than £10 last year. The same basket now costs over £12, a quarter higher.

"People are feeling the pain of the credit crunch and rocketing prices," said Duncan Borrowman. "The government is doing too little, too late to help people get through the hard times.

"We need to put money back in the pockets of people who are struggling to make ends meet. Liberal Democrats are calling for a 4p cut in the rate of income tax, paid for by upping taxes on pollution and closing tax loopholes used by the rich.

"We would also get tough on unnecessary and wasteful government spending, and use some of the money saved to cut taxes even further for those on low and middle incomes. And energy companies should be forced to use the £9 billion profit they have made from the Emissions Trading Scheme to cut bills and fight fuel poverty."