Osborne holds back on tax avoidance
6 Oct 10
Chancellor promises to clamp down on outright tax evasion, while stepping back from Lib Dem promises on avoidance
Chancellor George Osborne appears to have taken a step back from his Lib Dem coalition partners’ tough stance on tax avoidance, in his speech to the Tory party conference yesterday.
In recent weeks, the likes of Vince Cable, Nick Clegg and Osborne’s treasury colleague Danny Alexander have lined up to attack both tax evasion and avoidance. However, while Osborne described outright evasion as “morally indefensible” and demanded “that the richest in our society bear their share of the burden” he made no reference to avoidance or set out any measures pointing in that direction.
The Tories’ first party conference back in power has so far been dominated by the proposed withdrawal of child benefits for middle income families – particularly where one partner does not work – which has been cast in parts of the press as an attack on the middle classes.