Ed Davey has ruled out the Liberal Democrats seeking tax rises on even the richest individuals amid continuing efforts by his party to target disaffected Conservative voters in dozens of “blue wall” seats.
A day before his speech to his party’s conference in Bournemouth, the Lib Dem leader also confirmed that the previous policy of adding 1p on to income tax to pay for better NHS services had been scrapped.
“It’s a cost of living crisis – taxes on people have gone up hugely already,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“Income tax is set to rise under Conservative policy for the next few years. So I just don’t think you’d be right to increase taxes. We’ve got to sort out the NHS though. It’s in a dire strait.”
Instead, he said, money to improve the NHS would be raised from areas such as expanding a windfall tax of energy companies’ profits, and removing some tax breaks on big banks.
Asked if his party could instead target the wealthiest individuals for tax rises, Davey replied: “No, also because over the next few years, you’re seeing a big increase in taxes that are already baked in.
“I think there’s a real danger that if we don’t ask those organisations who are doing really well, like the oil and gas companies, like the banks, the water companies, they have the money, and you know, they’d be making huge profits in some cases. And it seems to me the fair way of doing it.”
Party officials have been open about the fact that their “pre-manifesto”, a broad draft manifesto approved by party members at the conference on Sunday, was designed explicitly with policies intended to appeal to former Conservative voters who may be tempted to switch to the Lib Dems, such as a pledge to not build houses on the green belt.
Lib Dem election planners have decided to focus their general election campaign on ultra-local efforts in dozens of target seats with specific messaging, worrying less about getting across a national narrative.
This would prioritise the “ground war” of mobilising supporters and bespoke messaging in a few dozen seats at the expense of an “air war” to set out a broader vision for the party.
The policy agenda would be tailored towards winning over voters in the blue wall, traditionally Tory commuter belt and suburban seats, not only around London but also in places such as Greater Manchester and Yorkshire.
This has caused concern from some party activists at the conference, who fear the Lib Dems’ identity and message risks being diluted.
One senior party official, asked if policies such as ruling out building on the green belt was designed as a sop to Conservative waverers, said: “The manifesto has a single aim: to maximise the number of votes that we can get.”
They added: “The aim of the manifesto is to maximise our impact in elections, and that determines the priorities and that determines what the priorities are on policy areas.
“In some elections, the Lib Dems have talked incessantly about proportional representation when no one was interested. We’re hoping to avoid that – although we still have it in the manifesto.”
