Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
David Cameron has vowed to introduce a law guaranteeing no rise in income tax rates, VAT or national insurance before 2020 if the Tories win the election.
The Conservative leader said workers already paid enough tax and he would focus on other ways of clearing the deficit, such as reducing the welfare bill and tackling tax avoidance.
Labour said it was a “last-minute gimmick” and it expected VAT to rise.
Ed Miliband suggested the Tories have a “secret plan” to cut tax credits.
The Lib Dems said voters would “simply not believe” the pledge unless the Conservatives spelled out where they would cut public spending.
Elsewhere in the election campaign;
- Campaigning comedian Russell Brand has published a video of his interview with Labour leader Ed Miliband
- Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will focus on his party’s pledge to offer free schools meals to all primary school children in England
- UKIP leader Nigel Farage gives a speech in the European Parliament attacking what he says is a common EU migration policy
- The SNP might win all 59 seats in Scotland, according to analysis of the latest opinion poll from Ipsos-Mori
- A decision not to renew the UK’s Trident nuclear submarines could threaten “the survival of our nation”, 20 ex-military officials say in a letter to The Times newspaper
Both the Conservatives and Labour are focusing on economic issues with just over a week to go until polling day and with opinion polls suggesting neither has been able to open up a decisive lead.
George W. Bush famously said “read my lips, no new taxes” in 1988
History is littered with politicians promising – or appearing to promise – that they can re-write the rules of economics and then being forced to gag on their own words. It’s not that these leaders are fools – far from it. Even as they uttered those words George Bush Senior and Gordon Brown must have been thinking “fingers crossed”.
Read Nick Robinson’s full blog
As well as ruling out rises in headline tax rates, Mr Cameron said VAT would not be extended to new items and the upper earnings limit on national insurance will be aligned with the higher rate threshold for income tax.
The prime minister said he could make the difficult decisions needed to balance the public finances through spending cuts, reducing government waste and clamping down on tax avoidance “without reaching into the pockets of hard-working people and taking their money”.
History is littered with politicians promising – or appearing to promise – that they can re-write the rules of economics and then being forced to gag on their own words. It’s not that these leaders are fools – far from it. Even as they uttered those words George Bush Senior and Gordon Brown must have been thinking “fingers crossed”.
BBC