Labour MP 'to quit over tax plans'

A Government member is reportedly poised to quit in protest at plans to abolish the 10p tax rate.

Angela Smith was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for the Sheffield Hillsborough Constituency at the 2005 general election.

She is Parliamentary Private Secretary to Treasury Minister Yvette Cooper.

Ms Smith is said to have told colleagues she is resigning as Ms Cooper's aide because of her concerns over the tax move.

She has refused to comment on reports of her possible resignation.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is under mounting pressure from Labour MPs who are concerned about the impact of the tax change on poorer people.

Former welfare reform minister Frank Field has warned that the PM will face a "mutiny" over the issue when the Commons returns from its Easter recess next week.

Mr Field, who has been campaigning for steps to ameliorate the impact of scrapping the 10p rate, said he had not spoken to Ms Smith about a possible resignation.

"The main thing is not what Angela and I do, it is whether the Government is going to make concessions on this vital issue," he added.

More than 70 Labour MPs have signed one of three Commons motions calling for action on the abolition of the 10p rate. Tory leader David Cameron has also pledged to fight the move.

There is speculation that Ms Smith is coming under heavy pressure from Government Whips to back down from her threat.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said Mr Brown's Government was "unravelling by the hour".

"Yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said the Government needed to sharpen up its act.

"Today, a senior Labour peer has, in his own words, stabbed the PM in the front, and now a member of the Government is to resign because Gordon Brown's tax con is hitting Britain's poorest families."

He added: "At a time of economic uncertainty, the public are now asking whether Gordon Brown has the authority to lead the country through difficult times."

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: "Gordon Brown's Government is starting to unravel before our eyes as Labour MPs see the full extent of the Prime Minister's betrayal of the most needy in our society.

"But it is a pity that it has taken Angela Smith a full year to react to his callous decision when we warned the Government of its consequences on the very day it was announced in the Budget."

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