ALTER is preparing a response to the Treasury Select Committee's invitation for evidence on the effectiveness of the current tax system. Brian Hodgkinson, author of The New Model of the Economy, has drafted a 3000-word Memorandum to be sent to MPs on the Committee in January.
A "Ten Point Plan" prepared for the Lib Dem Tax Commission in 2006 and largely incorporated in the subsequent policy papers endorsed by Party Conference is being dusted off for recycling, as ALTER's New Year Offer to Government. It will form the basis for a Discussion Paper being prepared in response to a request from HM Treasury Property Tax officials for ideas on how a land value tax might be introduced in Britain in current political and economic circumstances. ALTER Chair Dr Tony Vickers has drafted the paper Transitional Issues for the all-party Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ) to consider over the New Year break.
The abolition of identity cards was confirmed yesterday (21 Dec 2010), when the Identity Documents Bill was granted Royal Assent. Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned against ID cards, a scheme introduced by the previous Labour Government.
I was over in the House of Commons yesterday and bumped into three Labour MPs I have known for many years. Two of them were former Ministers -although not in the Cabinet - and all 3 have been around a long time. They had a laugh with me about the DCLG Select Committee which had taken place that day. I had, apparently, "been mauled by a kitten": their words not mine. Shapps - the thin half of the hilarious Laurel and Hardy duo at DCLG - is continuing with his anal obsession about other people's income by enquiring about the costs of the "Kemp operation!".
BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson has written about the bugging and reporting of comments by Vince Cable by two Telegraph undercover reporters. Nick dismisses the revelations that some Lib Dems are not happy with all government policy, saying "the idea that Lib Dems are worried about child benefit and housing cuts would not come as a surprise to anyone who follows politics". Quite.
Kent County Council have reported that they have refilled salt bins across Shepway following the recent snow and ice.