David Cameron promises five-year freeze on taxes

David Cameron vows lock on income tax, VAT and national insurance. Picture: AFP

Just eight days before voters go to the polls, the Prime Minister will vow to introduce legislation within the first 100 days of a new Tory administration to ensure no rises in income tax, VAT and national insurance for the lifetime of the next parliament.

In addition to the “Five Year Tax Lock”, Mr Cameron will renew his promises to raise the point at which people pay income tax to £12,500 and the threshold for the 40p higher rate to £50,000.

The Prime Minister will also repeat his manifesto commitment to pass another law meaning that those working full-time on the minimum wage will not have to pay any income tax. He will tell an audience in the West Midlands: “This is the clearest choice on the economy for a generation. And beyond the plain facts, it also comes down to gut instinct.

“When you’re standing in the polling booth, ask yourself: on the things that matter in your life, who do you really trust?

“When it comes to your tax bill: do you trust the people who taxed you to the hilt when they were in power and still haven’t come clean about the taxes they want to increase next time round?

“Or do you trust the Conservatives, who have cut income taxes for 26 million people, and who will cut your taxes again next time?”

He will add: “We know it’s your money, not government money. You’ve worked for it, you’ve earned it, you should be able to keep it.

“It’s a fundamental difference of approach between the Conservatives and Labour, me and Ed Miliband. It is, in fact, the first law of politics: it’s Labour who put up your taxes, and the Conservatives who cut them.”

However in a speech today, Labour leader Mr Miliband will make a pitch to families by claiming that an analysis of Conservative plans shows families with one child would lose tax credits when their incomes hit £23,000 a year, leaving them more than £1,600 a year worse off. Meanwhile families with two children would lose tax credits when their incomes reach £29,000, leaving them over £2,000 worse off, and families earning £12,000 or more will lose at least £550 a year.

Mr Miliband will say: “This election is not about any one politician or any one political party. It is about you, the people, because elections are when you have the power. This is your time, your moment, your chance to get the change your family needs.

“A chance that only comes once every five years; a chance to make a choice to put your family first; a chance to change the way our country is run so it does not put the richest and most powerful first; a chance to make Britain work for working families once again.

“We’ve heard a lot from David Cameron in the last five weeks.

“False promises, dangerous unfunded commitments dreamt up overnight with no idea of where the money is coming from and a plan to pay for the NHS with an IOU.

“Today I am here to reveal the truth: if the Tories get back in on 8 May, your family budget is at risk. Another five years of Tory government will mean a plan to double the pace of cuts next year, a plan that puts your family budget, your NHS and our country’s future at risk.”

He will add: “I ask you this: do you believe what you’ve heard from the Tories in the last five weeks, or what you’ve seen and what your family has felt in the last five years? It’s when you remember their record you realise the reality of their plan.

“It’s a record the Tories are desperate not to talk about, a record to run from, not run on.

“Labour has a better plan for a better future; a plan not just for a fairer country, but a more prosperous one.”

He will promise not to cut tax credits and reverse tax breaks for the rich.

He will add: “That is my commitment. Labour will protect family budgets, defend our schools and invest real money in the NHS.”

Labour enlisted Hollywood director Paul Greengrass to produce a video portrait of Mr Miliband last night in which he declared he is “ready to offer myself as prime minister”.

The four-minute election broadcast featured Mr Miliband working in the House of Commons, addressing party activists and hitting the campaign trail.

But Conservatives mocked the film for failing to mention the deficit, just as Mr Miliband did in his Labour Party conference last autumn.

The Labour leader says: “I feel that the last four and a half years have been leading up to this moment.

“I have thought deeply about how the country needs to change – we have developed the policies, the programme, and now I feel ready, I feel ready to offer myself as Prime Minister.”

The high production values of the glossy film reflects the pedigree of Oscar-nominated director Greengrass – the man behind movie hits The Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Phillips and United 93.

Mr Miliband discusses his parents’ background as refugees from the Nazis, his father Ralph’s war service in the Royal Navy and his battle for the Labour leadership – but his brother David is featured only fleetingly as a boy in a family photo, and is not mentioned by name.

In a clear riposte to a characterisation of his Marxist academic father as “the man who hated Britain”, Mr Miliband said: “He came to Britain, he learnt English, he put himself through night school, he was a removal man by day. He loved Britain for the refuge it gave him.”

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said: “This four-minute portrait of what’s important to Miliband makes no mention of the economy. He talks of working people but makes no mention of what creates jobs.

“He doesn’t talk about the deficit because he’d crash the economy all over again. The only way to secure the economy is to vote Conservative.”

l Mr Miliband also revealed yesterday he is not planning to push his sons to go into politics, as he and his brother David did.

The Labour leader has previously indicated that Daniel, five, and Samuel, four, are not showing much interest in the General Election, joking that they were more preoccupied by their favourite cartoon, the Octonauts.

Asked whether he expected them to go into politics, like their father and uncle, Mr Miliband said: “Not a direction I am going to push them in.”