On Monday 5th November the Prime Minister will join the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) at an event to mark the launch of its major new policy programme.
The programme – part of the CPS’s mission to develop a new generation of conservative thinking – will focus on tax, welfare, business and housing, with significant policies in each area designed to increase the amount of control people in Britain have over their own lives.
The first of these reports, ‘Make Work Pay’, by Tom Clougherty, Head of Tax at the CPS, is published on Tuesday. It will argue that the Government should build on its existing successes by ensuring via the tax system that work always pays. (Full details will be published tomorrow.)
To mark the report, the CPS has commissioned polling from YouGov – released today – which shows that the public emphatically do not want higher taxes, even for the rich.
It is true that voters feel that public spending should rise. But just 17% felt that people in the UK paid too little tax, falling to 3% in terms of their own finances. Only 21% believe that the top rate of tax, at 45p on incomes above £150,000, is too low. A plurality of voters believe that the 60p rate of tax on incomes from £100,000 to £123,000, as the personal allowance is withdrawn, is too high.
There is also a strong appetite for making work pay, with 35% of respondents believing that the Government’s aim when making decisions about taxation should be to make work pay, compared with just 25% wanting to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, and 23% to bring in the most money they can for public services.
Robert Colvile, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies said:
“British politics has been understandably focused on Brexit. But whatever the nature of the Brexit deal, taking back control from Brussels will mean little if we do not then give back control to the public.
“That’s why we at the Centre for Policy Studies are launching our major new policy programme, focusing particularly on tax, welfare, business and housing, with proposals that will give people more opportunity and more control over their own lives.
“On tax, the results are clear: the public want a system that truly makes work pay, which our report tomorrow will outline.
“I am delighted the Prime Minister will join us on Monday to speak at the launch and look forward to hearing her thoughts on our ideas.”
ENDS
For further information, or to book Centre for Policy Studies spokesmen, please contact the Centre for Policy Studies Press Office on 07876 161196 or email [email protected].
Date Added: Sunday 4th November 2018
