David Davis
UK Libertarian Party calls for the abolition of personal income tax
The UK Libertarian Party has started the new year with a call to scrap personal income tax.
Party Leader, Patrick Vessey, said, “Income Tax raised £153 billion in 2006/07, about one quarter of the £587 billion spent by goverment last year.
“But savings on unnecessary spending could easily be found: for example, current annual spending on Britain’s hundreds of unaccountable QUANGOs — including such luminaries as the British Potato Council, the Milk Development Council and the Wine Standards Board — is running at around £175 billion.
“The Libertarian Party believes that the tax burden should be substantially reduced, and that those taxes that remain should be levied on spending, not on income. This policy will reward those – especially the poorest — who spend within their means and who save for their future.”
The Party’s Director of Communications, Chris Mounsey, added, “In 2002/03, the government spent £420 billion. Were we to return to those spending levels, we could abolish personal income tax and still have £13 billion left over.
“The people of Britain are beginning to understand that simply throwing money at public services doesn’t work. The Libertarian Party is dedicated to allowing every person in this country to choose how their hard-earned money is spent and the best way in which to do that is not to steal it from them in the first place.”
The Libertarian Party’s pledge to scrap personal income tax is the first policy to emerge from the new party’s discussions, and will form part of a radical manifesto to be released later in the year.
Notes for editors
1) The Libertarian Party was founded on 21 November 2007 and officially launched on 1 January 2008. The party has concentrated solely on the UK political blogosphere and its own discussion forums thus far: this is the party’s first foray into the wider world. The website is at: http://www.lpuk.org
2) Libertarianism is a political philosophy based on support for individual liberty.
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
3) Libertarianism is a broad church, but the UK Libertarian Party is broadly minarchist in outlook. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minarchist
4) Government spending figures can be found here: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/finance_spending_statistics/pes_publications/pespub_pesa07.cfm
5) Income Tax was first introduced in 1798, by William Pitt the Younger, in order to buy weapons and materiel to fight the Napoleonic Wars, and ranged from less than 1% to a maximum of 10% over the set thresholds. The tax was abolished in 1802 by Henry Addington, then reintroduced in 1803; it was again abolished in 1816, then reintroduced by Sir Robert Peel in 1841. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_Kingdom#History
6) The QUANGO database: http://quangos.ercouncil.org
7) The Essential Guide to British QUANGOs 2005: http://www.policyhub.gov.uk/news_item/quangos_cps.asp
++ ENDS ++
Issued by Chris Mounsey, Director of Communications, on behalf of the UK Libertarian Party. Enquiries to Chris Mounsey: media@lpuk.org
