“RIP New Labour. Born July 21 1994; died 22 April 2009,” says Lance Price, Alistair Darling’s former deputy press secretary, in The Daily Telegraph. Gordon Brown’s promise as shadow chancellor, in January 1997, that his party wouldn’t raise income tax was “central to New Labour’s appeal”, embodying its commitment not to punish success. Last week’s new 50p tax rate on higher earners marked the end of an era, says Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer.
In economic terms, it won’t do much good either, says Price. The Institute of Fiscal Studies reckons the higher rate is unlikely to bring in much extra revenue, if any. High earners are “masters at legal tax avoidance” and more able to move to less punishing tax regimes. In any case, the “smart time” to have asked the rich to pay more was during the boom, says Rawnsley.
Sir Fred Goodwin “and his ilk” bolted for the hills long ago with their “swag”. The new top rate was a bit of “ham-fisted electioneering”, says Martin Ivens in The Sunday Times. Focus groups before the Budget revealed it would be popular. Of course most people, when asked, say the rich should pay more tax, but they won’t respect the party that proposes such measures for reasons such as winning an election.
The bigger issue here is that Brown is “bereft of a strategy”. His “promise to clean the stables is broken after Damian McBride’s botched black ops” and he’s failed to reform MPs’ expenses. Brown is “out of touch”, says Ian McWhirter in The Herald.
The McBride affair allowed former Blairite ministers, such as Alan Milburn and Charles Clarke, to attack Brown by association. He’s been criticised “more or less openly” over the expenses scandal by cabinet ministers from Harriet Harman to Peter Mandelson, and now we are being treated to the “extraordinary spectacle” of one of the “apostles of New Labour”, Stephen Byers, speaking out against the government’s tax raid and calling on Brown to ditch identity cards and the Trident missile system. He is losing authority by the day.
David Cameron should be thrilled, says Tom Peterkin in Scotland on Sunday. But things are so bad he could be forgiven for wondering whether the Premiership is “a prize worth winning”. With Britain forecast to remain in debt until 2023, rising unemployment and negative growth, the outlook is grim. Cameron’s challenge is to convince a “tired and cynical electorate” that he and George Osborne have what it takes.
But it’s not clear if the Tories even know what “appalling medicine they will have to prescribe when they take office”, says Michael Brown in The Independent. Efficiency savings, cancellation of ID cards and computer programmes will not have more than a marginal impact. The Tories need a “dramatic economy”, such as abandoning the Trident nuclear programme. It’s an opportunity for Cameron, says Bruce Anderson, also in The Independent. He has persuaded people he is “bright and likeable” – now he needs to convince us that he is “strong and substantial”.