Lincoln Conservative Association

24,000 people will save money across Lincoln under Conservative initiative

Lincoln: 4 April 2010. Karl M^cCartney, Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate for Lincoln, today gave his backing to new Conservative plans to stop a new jobs tax on working families and local firms across Lincoln. Labour Ministers confirmed in the recent Budget that Gordon Brown’s Government will be increasing National Insurance on both workers and local businesses. Under Labour’s tax-raising plans, anyone earning over £20,000 a year will see their pay packet shrink. Labour will also increase the tax that local firms pay for hiring workers who earn £5,700 a year or more.

By contrast, a Conservative Government will stop the most damaging part of Labour’s tax on jobs by cutting government waste while protecting frontline services. The cost of Labour’s tax rise on employers will be reduced by more than half. And anyone earning between £7,100 and £45,400 – seven out of ten working people across the country – will be up to £150 a year better off than under Labour’s plans.

At least 24,000 working people across Lincoln will be better off as a result. A typical nurse, teacher, firefighter or police officer would save £150 a year. People on lower incomes will benefit the most as a proportion of their incomes. And, an estimated 4,147 jobs across the East Midlands could be saved by making it less expensive for local firms to hire workers.

The Conservative plans have been backed by leading business figures who run firms such as Sainsbury’s, Mothercare and Marks & Spencer, and who employ over half a million people between them in the UK.

McCartney said:
“For the last 13 years, working people across Lincoln have seen their taxes go up and up and their money wasted. Now Gordon Brown is planning a tax on jobs that will hit anyone earning over £20,000 a year and destroy 4,147 jobs across the East Midlands by taxing local firms more.

“Labour will kill the recovery with their tax on jobs. Conservatives will cut Labour waste to stop it. More than 24,000 working people across Lincoln will be better off with the Conservatives. And we’ll cut Labour’s debt to stop even higher interest rates and your mortgage going up. We’re all in this together, and we need new energy and fresh ideas to get Lincoln working for everyone.”

ENDS

For further information:
Nigel Szembel
Karl McCartney Press Office
Election Campaign Office 2010
press@karlmccartney.co.uk
+44 (0)7802 362088

Karl M^cCartney gives his analysis of Government’s tax and spending plans
Lincoln: 29 March 2010. Karl M^cCartney, Conservative Party Parliamentary Candidate for Lincoln, today delivered his verdict on the Budget, which sets out the Labour Government’s plans for taxes and public spending. M^cCartney voiced his concern at the big tax rises concealed in the small print and the lack of a credible plan to deal with the massive level of public debt.

• Income tax will increase by stealth for 30 million people, since both the basic and higher rate thresholds have been frozen. This will mean £96 a year more for a couple who both work. A single pensioner on an average income will be more than £110 worse off as a result of Labour’s tax grabs.
• National Insurance will be hiked for workers and for firms. This jobs tax will discourage businesses from hiring staff, cut people’s pay packets, and mean anyone earning £20,000 a year or more will be worse off.
• Duties on alcohol will rise by above inflation yet again. A new cider tax, in the form of a massive ten per cent rise in duties on all cider, will punish responsible drinkers.
• Council tax bills in Lincoln will hit £1481 from April – a rise of £825 or 126% since 1997. Across the country, council tax will rise by £1 billion.
• Inheritance tax will rise by stealth, due to the decision to freeze thresholds at £325,000 for four years. This will mean more and more homes will be caught in the inheritance tax net. The burden of stamp duty is also rising.
• Anyone with a fixed telephone line will have to pay for a new yearly phone tax.
• Business rates will rise by £1 billion for local businesses across the country; a business rates revaluation will mean soaring bills for many struggling firms from this April.
• The Government’s total debt is forecast to hit £1,406,000,000,000, equivalent to every person in Lincoln owing £23,000 in debt. This will result in higher interest rates to pay for the higher state borrowing, meaning more expensive mortgages.

M^cCartney said:

“Our economy is still in trouble. People worry about their jobs, families see their incomes squeezed and many small firms cannot get the support they need from the banks, even though the Government bailed those banks out. Most people across Lincoln feel worse off than they did five years ago. Gordon Brown is carrying on the same old policies of waste, stealth taxes and debt. We need change.”

“A Conservative Government will set about balancing the books, whilst protecting those on modest incomes. That is why we will re-link the state pension to earnings, protect things like the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes, protect the lowest paid in our public services, and protect tax credits for low and middle income families.”

ENDS

Nigel Szembel
Karl M^cCartney Press Office
Election Campaign Office 2010
press@karlmccartney.co.uk
+44 (0)7802 362088