{"id":26323,"date":"2013-02-07T10:36:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T09:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/2013\/02\/07\/nick-clegg-starts-by-election-chris-huhne_n_2636929.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-politics?ncid=GEP"},"modified":"2013-02-07T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T09:36:40","slug":"cleggs-tax-promise-signals-start-of-eastleigh-by-election-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/cleggs-tax-promise-signals-start-of-eastleigh-by-election-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Clegg’s Tax Promise Signals Start Of Eastleigh By-Election Race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg<\/a> will fire the starting gun in the Liberal Democrats<\/a>‘ Eastleigh by-election campaign today with a promise to press for higher taxes on the wealthy to ease the burden on “hard-working families”.<\/p>\n

In the Commons, Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael will move the writ formally triggering the contest to elect a successor to disgraced former Cabinet minister Chris Huhne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polling will take place in just three weeks’ time, on February 28, in a battle which will pitch the Lib Dems into a head-to-head fight with their Coalition partners, the Tories, who finished second in the 2010 general election.<\/p>\n

Both parties are braced for a bruising contest, with Conservative Party<\/a> chairman Grant Shapps signalling that they intend to focus on Huhne’s past after he pleaded guilty in court to dodging punishment for a speeding offence.<\/p>\n

“The residents of Eastleigh<\/a> have for a long time been sold a lie by their Lib Dem MP. That’s why they’ll welcome the opportunity to express the way they feel about it very soon,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Conservatives will present the opportunity to start afresh with a hard-working local MP who gets on with looking after her constituents.”<\/p>\n

Lib Dems insisted their decision, as the sitting party in the constituency, to opt for a short contest reflected the high state of preparedness of the local party, even though they have yet to choose a candidate.<\/p>\n

“We are going to throw the kitchen sink at it. I’m pretty sure that the Conservatives will as well,” one source said.<\/p>\n

“It is going to be a tight contest, and generally in tight contests in two-way marginals you get some pretty robust exchanges.”<\/p>\n

Clegg<\/a> is expected to travel to the Hampshire constituency to campaign as soon as he can clear the space in his diary.<\/p>\n

Officials would not be drawn on whether he would offer an apology for Huhne<\/a>‘s conduct, but acknowledged that he would have to deal with the issue.<\/p>\n

LIKE HUFFPOST UK POLITICS ON FACEBOOK<\/a> | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER<\/a><\/p>\n

“Clearly the issue of Chris Huhne’s resignation as an MP is going to be of relevance to the by-election,” the source said.<\/p>\n

Officially, the Lib Dems want to make jobs and taxes the key campaign issues – drawing clear battlelines with the Conservatives.<\/p>\n

Clegg will use a speech at the Institute for Government in London today to highlight the Lib Dems’ commitment to a 1% annual “mansion tax” levied on properties worth more than \u00a32 million – a proposal the Tories have consistently rejected.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, he will say, the Lib Dems will press for the introduction of new council tax bands at the top end, again affecting properties worth more than \u00a32 million.<\/p>\n

“That we should ask a small number of very wealthy individuals to make a reasonable contribution, in order to provide desperately needed help for millions of ordinary people – nothing could do more to demonstrate a commitment to greater fairness in our tax system,” he is expected to say.<\/p>\n

“It’s an open secret that our Conservative partners do not share our views on this. However, we will continue to make this argument, in this Coalition and beyond.<\/p>\n

“Our approach is simple: taxes on mansions, tax cuts for millions. An approach to tax that puts payslips before palaces, if you like.”<\/p>\n

The Lib Dems will select their candidate at a private hustings on Saturday. Officials insist they are confident of retaining a seat they have held since 1994.<\/p>\n

Huhne had a majority of 3,684 at the last general election and the party has not lost a seat in a by-election for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n

There is speculation that the Tory candidate will be Maria Hutchings, who fought the seat in 2010. Her chances of achieving the necessary 3.6% swing to win have been boosted by UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage’s decision not to stand.<\/p>\n

Labour sources are hoping for a strong showing, but privately accept they have little chances of winning.<\/p>\n

Shadow chief Treasury secretary Rachel Reeves dismissed Clegg’s attempts to distance his party from the Tories.<\/p>\n

“The Liberal Democrats will be judged on what they do not what they say, and their record is the Tory record – one of economic failure,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Nick Clegg failed to deliver a mansion tax, but went along with a \u00a33 billion tax cut for the richest. And his cuts to tax credits will dwarf any gain from the rise in personal allowance for millions of working families.”<\/p>\n

Simon Hughes, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said the party will be “all guns blazing” at the next by-election.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Daybreak<\/a> he said: “We don’t take anything for granted, we have a very well run council, we run the council, and a fantastic reputation for work.<\/p>\n

“So we’re going to go in all guns blazing and this weekend pick a candidate, who will be up and running as of Saturday.
“I think people increasingly do know that it’s us who’ve delivered the tax cuts.<\/p>\n

“It’s the most important thing you can do, to put money back in the hands and the pockets of families who are struggling to pay the bills.”<\/p>\n

Asked whether Chris Huhne had damaged the image of the party, he said: “Of course it is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs, both for him and his family, and for the party. He’s resigned as MP, we fight a by-election.<\/p>\n

“Chris Huhne<\/a> paid the penalty, we move on.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\n

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg<\/a> will fire the starting gun in the Liberal Democrats<\/a>‘ Eastleigh by-election campaign today with a promise to press for higher taxes on the wealthy to ease the burden on “hard-working families”.<\/p>\n

In the Commons, Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael will move the writ formally triggering the contest to elect a successor to disgraced former Cabinet minister Chris Huhne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polling will take place in just three weeks’ time, on February 28, in a battle which will pitch the Lib Dems into a head-to-head fight with their Coalition partners, the Tories, who finished second in the 2010 general election.<\/p>\n

Both parties are braced for a bruising contest, with Conservative Party<\/a> chairman Grant Shapps signalling that they intend to focus on Huhne’s past after he pleaded guilty in court to dodging punishment for a speeding offence.<\/p>\n

“The residents of Eastleigh<\/a> have for a long time been sold a lie by their Lib Dem MP. That’s why they’ll welcome the opportunity to express the way they feel about it very soon,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Conservatives will present the opportunity to start afresh with a hard-working local MP who gets on with looking after her constituents.”<\/p>\n

Lib Dems insisted their decision, as the sitting party in the constituency, to opt for a short contest reflected the high state of preparedness of the local party, even though they have yet to choose a candidate.<\/p>\n

“We are going to throw the kitchen sink at it. I’m pretty sure that the Conservatives will as well,” one source said.<\/p>\n

“It is going to be a tight contest, and generally in tight contests in two-way marginals you get some pretty robust exchanges.”<\/p>\n

Clegg<\/a> is expected to travel to the Hampshire constituency to campaign as soon as he can clear the space in his diary.<\/p>\n

Officials would not be drawn on whether he would offer an apology for Huhne<\/a>‘s conduct, but acknowledged that he would have to deal with the issue.<\/p>\n

LIKE HUFFPOST UK POLITICS ON FACEBOOK<\/a> | FOLLOW US ON TWITTER<\/a><\/p>\n

“Clearly the issue of Chris Huhne’s resignation as an MP is going to be of relevance to the by-election,” the source said.<\/p>\n

Officially, the Lib Dems want to make jobs and taxes the key campaign issues – drawing clear battlelines with the Conservatives.<\/p>\n

Clegg will use a speech at the Institute for Government in London today to highlight the Lib Dems’ commitment to a 1% annual “mansion tax” levied on properties worth more than £2 million – a proposal the Tories have consistently rejected.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, he will say, the Lib Dems will press for the introduction of new council tax bands at the top end, again affecting properties worth more than £2 million.<\/p>\n

“That we should ask a small number of very wealthy individuals to make a reasonable contribution, in order to provide desperately needed help for millions of ordinary people – nothing could do more to demonstrate a commitment to greater fairness in our tax system,” he is expected to say.<\/p>\n

“It’s an open secret that our Conservative partners do not share our views on this. However, we will continue to make this argument, in this Coalition and beyond.<\/p>\n

“Our approach is simple: taxes on mansions, tax cuts for millions. An approach to tax that puts payslips before palaces, if you like.”<\/p>\n

The Lib Dems will select their candidate at a private hustings on Saturday. Officials insist they are confident of retaining a seat they have held since 1994.<\/p>\n

Huhne had a majority of 3,684 at the last general election and the party has not lost a seat in a by-election for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n

There is speculation that the Tory candidate will be Maria Hutchings, who fought the seat in 2010. Her chances of achieving the necessary 3.6% swing to win have been boosted by UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage’s decision not to stand.<\/p>\n

Labour sources are hoping for a strong showing, but privately accept they have little chances of winning.<\/p>\n

Shadow chief Treasury secretary Rachel Reeves dismissed Clegg’s attempts to distance his party from the Tories.<\/p>\n

“The Liberal Democrats will be judged on what they do not what they say, and their record is the Tory record – one of economic failure,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Nick Clegg failed to deliver a mansion tax, but went along with a £3 billion tax cut for the richest. And his cuts to tax credits will dwarf any gain from the rise in personal allowance for millions of working families.”<\/p>\n

Simon Hughes, deputy leader of the Lib Dems, said the party will be “all guns blazing” at the next by-election.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Daybreak<\/a> he said: “We don’t take anything for granted, we have a very well run council, we run the council, and a fantastic reputation for work.<\/p>\n

“So we’re going to go in all guns blazing and this weekend pick a candidate, who will be up and running as of Saturday.
“I think people increasingly do know that it’s us who’ve delivered the tax cuts.<\/p>\n

“It’s the most important thing you can do, to put money back in the hands and the pockets of families who are struggling to pay the bills.”<\/p>\n

Asked whether Chris Huhne had damaged the image of the party, he said: “Of course it is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs, both for him and his family, and for the party. He’s resigned as MP, we fight a by-election.<\/p>\n

“Chris Huhne<\/a> paid the penalty, we move on.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1213,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}