Clegg urges tax rise to cut deficit

[dutchman]

Taxes "must" be increased to cut the deficit after the next general election, Nick Clegg has said.



He also confirmed he had ditched plans for a "mansion tax" in favour of new council tax bands on high value homes.

The deputy PM told the BBC this would raise £1.5bn, which would be used to reduce the national debt.

The Lib Dem leader also accused Labour of "burying its head in the sand" over the deficit and the Tories of wanting to cut it by "beating up on the poor".

Mr Clegg told the BBC's Andrew Marr show it was not possible to "fill the black hole in the public finances either through spending reductions on their own... or by taxes on their own".

Only his party in government, he argued, could achieve the "stronger economy and fairer society" that the British public wanted.

Mr Clegg said he wants to ditch the "mansion tax" - a Lib Dem idea adopted by the Labour Party, which would involve a new levy on properties worth more than £2m - in favour of a new council tax band for higher value properties.

[rebbonk]

Clegg's had his 15 minutes of fame, come the next election he's toast!