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 06 July 2008 15:35 BST

Field keeps up 10p compensation pressure

Wednesday, 07 May 2008 10:14
Govt pressured on backdating income tax compensation
The government is facing continued pressure from Labour backbenchers Frank Field and Greg Pope over the backdating of income tax compensation.

The pair met with chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday and, in a statement last night, revealed they are maintaining pressure on the government over the issue.

Two weeks have passed since Mr Darling and Gordon Brown were forced into a U-turn on the issue of the scrapped 10p starting rate of income tax to avoid a humiliating Commons defeat on the issue

Mr Field had been pushing for compensation for the estimated five million people left worse off as a result of the changes.

And following Mr Darling's statement that the government will seek to offset "average losses", Mr Field has addressed ongoing concerns it may not be possible to backdate compensation.

A joint statement issued last night by Mr Pope and Mr Field said: "The chancellor made the undertaking that he was actively searching for as many of the losers as possible and that he is considering a whole range of methods by which the 10p losers could be compensated.

"Both MPs emphasised that all measures needed to be backdated to the beginning of the financial year."

Mr Field has repeatedly downplayed descriptions of himself as a "rebel", but the 10p U-turn has been widely attributed as being partly responsible for Labour's poor showing in the May 1st local elections.

The party lost 331 council seats as well as control of a net nine councils and now faces pressure to hold on to its Crewe and Nantwich constituency where a by-election is due later this month.

A former Labour councillor in Crewe told BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme yesterday he believed the 10p income tax issue could prove crucial in deciding the vote.

Peter Nurse said: "Certainly [in] the inner parts of Crewe, [there are] large numbers of people on low incomes who want to be clear about what is this compensation package, will they lose or not?"

"If they don't it will become a major campaigning issue on which the Conservatives will be leading – so we've got to have leadership on this."

Yesterday, Tory leader David Cameron said overturning Labour's 7,078 majority may prove a "tall order" but pledged "we're going to give it our best shot".End of story


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