Tories Adopt Liberal Democrat Policies

2.52.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 1st Oct 2007

West Worcestershire's Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Richard Burt, has today criticised the Conservative Party for lauding areas of Liberal Democrat tax policy as their own.

Proposals in the Liberal Democrat tax policy paper, 'Reducing the burden: Policies for tax reform' adopted at Conference two weeks ago would:

• Remove tax loop-holes exploited by the super-rich

• Reform stamp duty to reduce the amount of tax paid on properties worth less than £500,000

• Reform Inheritance Tax, with the aim of raising the starting threshold to £500,000

• Abolish direct taxes on air passengers and instead tax aeroplanes which leave airports half-empty.

Richard Burt said: "The Tories new plans bear startling resemblance to our own policies. I am shocked to hear that the Conservative Party has the audacity to portray them as their own."

"Whilst I welcome consensus on the big issues in politics - to attempt to present these policies as their own is farcical.

"The Liberal Democrats are still the only party promising tax cuts for the majority as we go into the next election.

"We would maintain spending commitments by fundamentally shifting the way Britain is taxed, while giving many middle and lower income earners more money to spend as they see fit.

"We want to shift the burden from how much you earn to how much you burn. The more you go green, the more money you will save, while national income tax would fall to its lowest levels in Britain since Lloyd George was Prime Minister.