Cameron calls for tax on savings to be axed

Published on Monday 5 January 2009 21:05

DAVID Cameron called yesterday for the abolition of income tax on the savings of basic-rate taxpayers.

The Conservative leader also said pensioners' tax allowances should be raised by 2,000.

Mr Cameron said the government could introduce the changes in its spring Budget, covering the estimated 5 billion cost by cutting back on state spending in 2009-10.

The Tory leader said the proposals formed part of the vision for a "good future" for Britain, which his party will put forward at the next general election.

Mr Cameron also launched Conservative reports on measures to build the UK's 5 per cent share in the growing market for environmentally-friendly technology, which he said provided "a roadmap of how Britain can be the world leader in green goods, services and companies".

He said that a Conservative government would do everything possible to ensure that the majority of the population had access to high-speed broadband links within five years, with universal access in a decade.

In a speech on the economy in London, Mr Cameron denounced the government's response to the downturn as "economically stupid and morally indefensible" as it encouraged debt and undermined saving.

"And it is morally indefensible because it punishes future generations – and responsible savers in this generation – for the irresponsibility of others," he said.

Labour yesterday launched a dossier accusing the Tories of doing nothing to help tackle the global economic challenges.

Yvette Cooper, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "David Cameron is making empty promises to hide the fact that the Conservatives would do nothing to help the British economy, and once again would turn their backs on the British people.

"The Conservatives are repeating their mistakes: if a timely fiscal stimulus of similar scale had been applied at the beginning of the 1990s recession, around 300,000 fewer jobs might have been lost."