Fair Taxes

Nick Clegg attacked Tory and Labour tax plans while launching the general election campaign in Scotland yesterday. Unveiling a new poster he warned the Tories plan to drop a secret tax bombshell.

"The Conservatives have made a series of uncosted tax promises - tax bribes."

"The only way that they are going to deliver their tax promises is by dropping a tax bombshell, a VAT bombshell of £389 a year on every household in this country."

Meanwhile Labour and the Tories continued their war of words over National Insurance with David Cameron suggesting that Labour were looking 'very rattled.'

Gordon Brown hit back by saying that some of the Tories' savings had already been delivered, and others were "not credible", a "fantasy" and were based on "a back-of-envelope set of calculations"

The Financial Times front page reports the disclosure of details on proposed Tory cuts by David Cameron's efficiency adviser, Sir Peter Gershon. He says that up to £2bn must be reduced from the public payroll in the year after the general election, potentially costing 40,000 jobs. (Cameron adviser discloses cuts detail).

Commenting on the story, Vince Cable said: "It is fast becoming clear what Tory efficiency savings actually mean. Claiming that they are the party that will support jobs is entirely undermined when their efficiency chief is looking to immediately slash employment throughout the public sector.

"The Tories are guilty of the worst type of salami slicing - cutting with no regard for what is useful or wasteful spending."