Coalition tensions were laid bare today after a senior Liberal Democrat said his party was “fighting in the trenches” against the Tories over tax and spending.
Lib-Dem president Tim Farron told of the fraught negotiations over George Osborne’s Autumn Statement which imposed a three-year benefits squeeze and hit the pensions of the wealthy.
“These are incredibly difficult times and we as Lib-Dems have to fight in the trenches day in day out to try and make sure that it’s not just the poor paying who are paying the burden, that the rich are paying their fair share,” he said on BBC1’s Question Time.
He also criticised the decision to cut the top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p next April.
“I take the view that not only should we be raising more money from people who are the wealthiest, you need to be seen to be doing it as well. I take the view that whilst we’re taking more from the bankers, that is progress, we should be taking even more,” he said.
Mr Farron’s comments will be seen as part of a “differentiation strategy” to distance the Lib-Dems — who are on about 10 per cent in the polls — from the Conservatives.
Tory party chairman Grant Shapps declined to hit back at the Lib-Dem president, instead chosing to embrace the Coalition partner.
“Muddied and embattled, we’ve been fighting alongside the Lib-Dems in those same trenches, doing battle with Labour’s deficit,” he said. “The top 20 per cent of households are making the greatest contribution and we’re ensuring that we protect the most vulnerable — and that’s thanks to both sides of this coalition government.”
But senior Tory backbencher Brian Binley said: “Tim Farron is in cloud-cuckoo land and that’s another example of it. We are all fighting to create greater wealth and more jobs.”
The Chancellor is engaged in a battle with the Lib-Dems over “fairness”.
Nick Clegg’s party has sought to portray itself as imposing fairness on Tory economic policy, including by pushing the rise of the starting threshold of paying income tax to £9,440.
Mr Osborne has said that the Conservatives are ensuring the rich pay their share of the financial burden.
