By raising the basic income tax threshold from £6475 to £10,000, everyone earning over £10k per year will be saved around £700 per year. Those earning less will pay no tax, at all. That means four million pensioners and low-paid workers will be exempt from income tax, putting billions back into the economy.

This is the plan of the Liberal Democrats’ trusted Shadow Chancellor, Dr Vince Cable. Of course, in these difficult times, this money has to be found somewhere else. Not surprisingly, the Tories are about to attack these plans because their richest friends will have to help balance the books.

Most controversial of all these plans is the “mansion tax”, which a LibDem government would levy at 0.5% on all properties values above £1 million. Taking the £700 income tax cut, any adult couples living in such a property would not find themselves out of pocket unless the amount was around £1.3 million or over, of which there are few in Wyre Forest. These house values would be judged on the Council Tax assessments planned by the government. This is because they haven’t been assessed since the Tories did it in 1991. The Tories call this snooping, which is a bit rich considering they did it first, though they naturally exempted anyone with property worth many millions.

At the moment, Council Tax is supposed to be based on current home values but people with £10 million estates pay only the same as those in homes worth £750,000. This naturally means that the low paid and middle earners pay much more of their income towards roads, rubbish collection, schools and police. As usual with the Conservatives, the wealthy pay the least.

The Mansion Tax is, however, designed as a temporary measure. The LibDems believe that the whole Tory Council Tax system needs dismantling. The LibDems have been testing a local income tax system in some of the councils they run and, if the trials work as planned would roll out the system across the country scrapping Council Tax and the Mansion Tax. This would allow us to get rid of the “council snoopers” the Tories invented and give more budgetary control to local authorities.

The Tories own figures on this plan suggest that the average Wyre Forest working family will end up paying £42 extra per year. This sum is intended to make the LibDems look like a tax lovers but it more than compensated by the £700 each earner will save in tax. This means the LibDems would put more money in the average pocket and more money feeding back into the British economy.