Danny Alexander struggled to make himself heard in the House of Commons as he attempted to deliver the Liberal Democrats' "yellow budget".
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was heckled by Labour MPs who accused him of using "ministerial privileges" for "purely party political purposes".
Amid heated exchanges, Mr Alexander was so badly heckled he was forced to accuse one Labour MP "ranting like a lunatic".
Labour MPs also jeered Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as he left the Commons before Mr Alexander had finished speaking.
Mr Alexander said he was unveiling plans for the economy that would not return the country to the era of "Cathy Come Home" setting out the party's differences to the Conservatives.
He used an assessment from the Government's Office for Budget Responsibility to deliver Liberal Democrat fiscal policy, saying deficit reduction needed to happen more fairly than proposed by the Chancellor.
Following his House of Commons appearance, Mr Alexander posed outside the Treasury with a yellow box alternative to George Osborne's red box.
The briefcase, sporting the words Liberal Democrat Budget in gold letters, had been auctioned off - described as a "beautiful, historic, briefcase" - for £1,500 at the party conference last week.
Mr Alexander made his alternative Budget statement in the House of Commons ahead of a Government announcement to crack down on tax evaders.
The announcement of the measures had been left over from George Osborne's sixth Budget on Wednesday.
The plans will see banks and accountants who help people dodge tax facing fines equal to the amount owed.
It means the Government would get the money back from both the person who evaded the tax, and the firm that helped them to do so.
Mr Alexander told Sky News the Government wanted to send the message that "dodging and evading tax is simply unacceptable".
He said: "In future if a bank or an accountancy firm help you evade tax they will be liable for a financial penalty the same as the tax that they encourage you to evade.
"This is all part of the Liberal Democrat-led clampdown on avoidance and evasion that has gone on for the whole of the parliament."
Labour MP Chris Leslie accused Mr Alexander of orchestrating a "phoney exercise" to put forward a Liberal Democrat agenda.
He said the Chief Secretary had used a legitimate Government Budget statement on tax evasion measures to present Liberal Democrat plans and said he was guilty of delivering his alternatives under "false pretences".
He said the Liberal Democrats had backed the Tories for five years and now Mr Alexander must pay the "ultimate price".
Tory MP Adam Afriyie said the "yellow budget" was the "Westminster bubble at its worst".
Speaking on his LBC radio show ahead of the Mr Alexander's appearance, the Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, said £6bn of the £27bn needed to balance the books should be found from an increase in tax - mainly for the richest in society.
He said: "Over the last five years, we have basically taken a mixture of tax increases and spending reductions, welfare reductions, action on tax avoidance, to start balancing the books. That's allowed us to halve the deficit as a proportion of our nation's wealth.
"The Conservatives announced last autumn that they are going to lurch away from that and only nobble the working-age poor and only the working-age poor will make additional sacrifices to balance the books.
"I don't think that's fair, I don't think it's right to ask for £1,500 off the eight million poorest families in this country, which is what the Conservatives want to do."
Mr Osborne, meanwhile, has defended plans for more cuts to spending on public services, saying it was "necessary if we are going to go on living within our means".
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Anger As Lib Dems Deliver 'Yellow Budget'
Dengan url
http://tunggusurya.blogspot.com/2015/03/anger-as-lib-dems-deliver-yellow-budget.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Anger As Lib Dems Deliver 'Yellow Budget'
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Anger As Lib Dems Deliver 'Yellow Budget'
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar