Tories, Tax and Redwood 13 August 2007
Posted by Anders Hanson in Conservatives, Lib Dems, Nick Clegg, Politics.trackback
I’m surprised how few Liberal Democrats have commented on John Redwood’s proposals to ‘cut red-tape’ and ‘cut waste’ all in the aid of a ‘tax cut by any other name’. Instead, the main Lib Dem reaction is not from bloggers but by Vince Cable’s official response on the party website, which seems somewhat lengthy, convoluted and all about the word ’spurious’.
I can’t help but get this uneasy feeling that the Tories are returning to their own ways, as soon as they start talking about cutting waste and cutting tax. Not that I have a problem with either, and the Liberal Democrats have made similar proposals to make big savings in government. But what makes me feel queasy is the way that all these tax cuts seem to be about removing protection for workers or cutting health and safety regulations. Call me an old socialist, but these very regulations are there to protect people from being poorly treated at work, taken advantage of and working in the sorts of conditions that we would hope had gone out with the Victorians but are unfortunately still far too prevalent. It certainly seems to be the return of the ‘nasty party’ once again.
This sort of stuff can at least be contrasted with the sorts of laws that the Liberal Democrats have proposed scrapping under Nick Clegg’s ‘Great Repeal Act’ idea. These are things that improve people’s freedoms, make fighting crime effective rather than symbolic and get a rid of the silly laws that may not have a major impact on people’s lives but will at least cut paperwork and some huge lawyers fees.
It’s days like today that remind me why I’m a Liberal Democrat, and could never be a Conservative or Labour.
BBC POLITICS: Tory plan for red tape ‘tax cut’
I doubt how much such ‘protections’ work. In effect they make it more difficult to find work, especially for the poorest. The health and safety industry has gone way too far and infantalises people. We are not allowed to decide for ourselves what to do.
The case for some safety standards is reasonable, the case for the ever increasing interference has not been made and I think never will be.
The worst thing about the attacks on this is they’re based on claiming they’re ‘tax cuts’. Firstly tax cuts are not bad. Secondly a cut in regulation would lead to higher tax revenues as business spends less on compliance and more on investment (especially small businesses).
But isn’t it usually the case that the problem is not health & safety regulations, it is the way they are applied by companies or by people who advise people on these things? All we need is a bit of common-sense rather than removing much of the legal protection that was introduced for the very reason that some employers treat their staff badly.
The best parallel I can come up with is EU directives, which are usually far more reasonable than they are portrayed, but are made far more onerous when ‘gold-plated’ by the UK Government.