General Election 2010: Rivals round on Clegg-Cable policy clashes

QUESTIONS were being asked yesterday about the true position of the Liberal Democrats on key election issues, after the party's leader, Nick Clegg, appeared to contradict his Treasury spokesman on tax on his first campaign trip to Scotland.

• Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg chats with former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy on his flight to Glasgow, where he was ambushed by the Tories and Labour over contradictory statements. Picture: PA

Meeting Scottish candidates in Glasgow, Mr Clegg said the Tories would have to raise the rate of VAT to pay for their pledge to reverse Labour's increases in National Insurance contributions.

But in the recent chancellors' debate, his Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable – yesterday 355 miles away in Cambridge – refused to rule out an increase in VAT.

The incident prompted opponents to claim this was the latest in a series of contradictions in major policy areas, including child benefit, health and education spending, tuition fees, tax rises and cuts, where top Lib Dems were pulling in opposite directions.

However, the Lib Dems dismissed the attacks, claiming they were meant to distract attention from holes in their rivals' own economic policies and failures to say where they would make cuts.

The Conservatives claimed the Lib Dems were "trying to be all things to all men" and needed to "come clean" on their policies.

With the most recent poll of polls showing the Conservatives only six points ahead, suggesting that the Lib Dems will be kingmakers in a hung parliament, rivals insisted they must reveal where they stand.

The increasing likelihood of a Lib Dem involvement in government also saw the bookmakers Ladbrokes slash their odds on Mr Cable being next chancellor from 16/1 to 10/1.

Polling expert Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, has also predicted Lib Dem successes in key marginals including their top Scottish target, Edinburgh South.

But as Mr Clegg arrived in Scotland, he was greeted with a Labour press release highlighting a recent situation where he contradicted with Mr Cable on child benefit.

In a policy paper, and during the chancellors' debate, Mr Cable said the benefit would be means-tested and targeted at poorer families. Mr Clegg twice denied this and, eventually, in the Budget debate, Mr Cable said he had made a mistake.

Yesterday, the Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, Mark Lazarowicz, who is also under threat from a Lib Dem challenger, said: "Nick Clegg needs to be honest with families in Scotland and tell them what his party is going to do about child benefit.

"They can't say two things at once."

The Tories highlighted a number of contradictions in Lib Dem announcements, including apparent clashes over education and health spending policies.

They pointed out that last month Mr Cable had said: "There can be no ring-fencing if we are serious about getting the public finances back on track."

But in September Mr Clegg said: "It would be madness to cut support for schools in order to deal with the poisonous legacy of this recession."

And when Lib Dem health spokesman David Laws was asked on Newsnight last month if NHS spending was ring-fenced, he said: "That is right, yes."

Mr Laws added that international development was protected too.

There has also been confusion over the Lib Dems' policy on how to respond to the budget deficit and whether this would mean tax rises or cuts.

In March, Mr Clegg told The Spectator: "We're saying 'purely spending cuts', and for a number of reasons."

But in September last year his spokesman, Mr Cable, insisted it was "dishonest and unbelievable" to rule out tax rises.

Previously, they have also got in a twist over their policy of reintroducing government payments for tuition fees in England, a policy they successfully promoted in Scotland when in coalition with the Labour Party at Holyrood.

In January, Mr Clegg said on BBC Radio 4: "There is a number of multi-billion-pound policies we have advocated in the past that we can no longer afford.

"We will not be able to deliver our pledge on scrapping tuition fees – something we are determined to do – on the timetable we once envisaged."

Then an election letter sent last month by direct mail to voters promised: "A fair chance for every child, involves: smaller class sizes, more money into schools and abolish tuition fees."

However, the Tory dossier and the attack by Labour over child benefit was last night dismissed by the Lib Dems as an attempt to distract from the "glaring omissions" in their opponents' own economic policies.

A spokesman for Mr Clegg insisted his party was the only one with fully costed policies, which include no income tax on the first 10,000 of earnings, helping the lowest-paid and taking thousands out of income tax altogether.

The Liberal Democrats will today pledge to stop banks charging excessive penalties for customers going over their overdraft limit.

The party's manifesto for consumers will also contain measures to limit charges for bouncing a cheque and cap the interest rates on credit cards.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said banks should not be allowed to "profiteer" from people making small mistakes.

Launching the policy Mr Clegg said the banks had a "moral obligation" to repay the money.

He said: "A Liberal Democrat government will legislate to ensure that no bank can charge its customers unfairly for going over their limit or bouncing a cheque.

"Banks should, of course, be able to pass on the costs they incur in dealing with these problems.

"But they should not be able to profiteer from customers making small mistakes. We will outlaw unfair charges from now on.

"Bank bosses should look to their consciences and give back the money they took from their customers in unfair charges.

CLEGG v CABLE

VAT

"I've said that we won't put up VAT because we don't need to" Nick Clegg, BBC News, 8 April, 2010

"You can't rule it out, but we're not proposing it and we think, actually, it's a cop-out because we've got to focus on spending which got to levels which weren't supportable" Vince Cable, Chancellors' Debate, Channel 4, 29 March, 2010

RING-FENCING BUDGETS OR NOT?

"There can be no ring-fencing if we are serious about getting the public finances back on track" Vince Cable, spring conference speech, 13 March, 2010

"But one of the things that I'm absolutely adamant about is that it would be madness to cut support for schools in order to deal with the poisonous legacy of this recession" Nick Clegg, TES, 18 September, 2009

RAISE TAXES OR NOT?

"Lib Dems say to some people there will be no tax rises. Nick Clegg promises no tax rises to deal with the deficit. We're saying 'purely spending cuts', and for a number of reasons" Nick Clegg, The Spectator, 13 March, 2010

"It would be dishonest and unbelievable for me to say that taxes overall should never rise" Vince Cable, speech to Liberal Democrat conference, 21 September, 2009

CUTTING CHILD BENEFIT FOR HIGH EARNERS OR NOT?

"We've spelt out … 15bn of cuts we think have to make … getting rid of the Child Trust Fund and child benefit for very high earners."Vince Cable, Chancellors' Debate, Channel 4, 29 March, 2010

"We will not question the universality of child benefit." Nick Clegg, The Scotsman, 8 March, 2010

Analysis:

• John Curtice: Why 'tax on jobs' has struck a chord