Lib Dems Want Council Tax Rise For Rich

The rich should shoulder more of the burden for cutting the deficit and pay higher council tax, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has said.

Danny Alexander said Liberal Democrats would add extra bands to the council tax structure to ensure those living in expensive homes paid more.

Mr Alexander said it was "an outrage" those living in £50m homes paid the same as people in £500,000 homes and if the party was to be part of another coalition it would expect the wealthy to help pay down the deficit.

The pledge, unveiled at the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow, came after Labour disclosed it would introduce a mansion tax for homes over £2m to help fund the NHS.

Nick Clegg's party had previously toyed with the idea of a mansion tax but the Lib Dem leader said it had been dropped in favour of the council tax plan.

Mr Alexander said: "We will introduce a new levy on the highest value properties - new bands on top of council tax to end the outrage that a £50 million pound property can currently pay the same as a half million pound home. This new tax will be fair, affordable, and will generate funds that will help our nation to live within its means.

"But I also need to be clear. The entire deficit cannot be removed through taxes on the wealthy. Far from it. Departmental spending will see further reductions, and we will have to keep social security bills under control. We've proposed stopping winter fuel payments to the wealthiest pensioners."

Mr Alexander accused the Tories of pinching the Liberal Democrat's 'tax cuts for millions' plan and claiming all the credit for the economic recovery.

He said the Tory plan unveiled by David Cameron as the middle class centrepiece giveaway of the party’s conference was a Liberal Democrat policy.

Mr Cameron said by 2020 he would increase to £12,500 the amount people could earn free from income tax – effectively delivering a tax cut for 30 million people.

Ahead of his speech, Mr Alexander told the Murnaghan Programme the Tories had lurched further and further to the right leaving an "ever-widening gap" between the two parties.

He said the Conservatives had lost all the compassion promised ahead of the 2010 General Election and it had been replaced with a "nastier" approach.

The Liberal Democrats have made clear their red lines in the event of another coalition after the General Election in May.

Nick Clegg said there was no way his party would support George Osborne's plans for a two-year freeze on working age benefits or Mr Cameron’s announcement he would scrap the Human Rights Act.

In a speech on Saturday he accused Mr Cameron would end up trapped between a "poor man's Margaret Thatcher and a rich man's Nigel Farage".

Tim Farron, the party's president, said the Tories had returned to the "nasty party" as set out by the Home Secretary Theresa May, who slammed the Liberal Democrats in her conference speech.

He said the Liberal Democrats would be prepared to go into coalition with the party the electorate gave the greatest number of votes to.