Fairer tax system to be adopted

Unexpected wonderful coalition
Conservative and Liberal Democrats form the new UK government

Events unfolded quite unexpectedly and quickly on Tuesday afternoon and now the UK has a new government based on the coalition between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties.

I was against the idea of Conservative-Lib Dem coalition quite strongly. However by looking at their coalition deal and cabinet members, I like it. I think it's far better than anything that Labour-Lib Dem could have produced.

Liberal Democrat supporters should not feel let down and betrayed by Nick Clegg and the Party. If I were given a choice between a small opposition in the House of Commons or in the Cabinet, I would rather choose the latter one.

In fact, what they have is even better than the choice given above. First, their job is not to oppose, but work and make decisions alongside Conservative ministers. Second, they have already got a promise from the Conservatives to implement some of their policies and delay some of Conservatives policies.

I strongly disagree with the view that Lib Dem has given away too much in order to get into the government. In fact, their policies, especially on the economy and banking reforms have been adopted. Some of the policies that they could not get into the agreements are quite frankly not that important or some are irreversible or almost irreversible, for example joining the euro.

Some important new policies to be implemented (or indeed not to be implemented):

• Income allowance will be increased gradually from April 2011, by £1000 annually towards £10'000 level (Lib Dem policy)
• The capital gain tax (CGT) will be increased, to be streamlined with income tax (Lib Dem policy)
• The increase of inheritance tax threshold to £1m from its current level of £325'000 is to be delayed (Tory policy)
  

There are many other policies to be implemented and delayed, which is not number-based. Those policies are difficult to measure and some of them are nothing more than reviews and possible reforms, so they are not actually that substantial.

All in all, these new taxation system is the most radical change in decades, and it certainly reflects far fairer system as it relieves the burden on poor and middle income-earners, yet punishes the wealthy harshly.

This is very different from what Tories stood for and their image, protecting the rich and slaving the poor. This removes one big shield for wealthy individuals, very low CGT compared to income tax. Also, there is a serious planned "clampdown" on bankers bonuses and their "reckless" activities.




My thoughts on some issues related to the coalition government:
In today's BBC's "Question Time", some rather ridiculous issues were raised:

Melanie Phillips, the Daily Mail columnist: "3 quarters of the nation didn't want Lib Dem to be in the government"
- I am sorry, but this country has not produced that many election results which resulted in a certain party to be "not supported by less than half of the voters". So should they have had re-election every time when no single party had more than 50% of voters' vote?
First, the current "first past the post" system ignores the overall vote share. Indeed it's mathematically possible to win the election without the majority of the voters' support, if the constituency boundaries were drawn in a particular way. Second, with the coalition of Conservatives and Lib Dems, they have a total of more than 60% of the votes and more than 56% of the House of Common seats.

"They have put their interest first, rather than national interest, unlike what they are saying"
- If Tories really had put their interest first, they could have formed a minority government by themselves without compromising any of their policies or calling a second election, in which they will likely to win. I am not saying everything they say is the truth, but I think some people are being far too cynical and critical.

"Lib Dems compromised too much", "Nick Clegg only wants to get into government, and doesn't really care"
- Yes, they have compromised, and they must have compromised. How else, do they expect to form a coalition. In fact, given the number of Lib Dem MPs, they have done quite well both on their coalition policies and cabinet seat numbers. Of course, Nick Clegg wants to get into government, that's what every politician wants to do, however, it's too early to judge and tell if he has compromised his Party and his policies for the sake of it. At least at the moment, it doesn't look so.

There were many conflicting issues raised by both the panel and the audience. Melanie claimed that this coalition government cannot survive and will break down, then she says she wouldn't predict anything, when asked about how Theresa May will do in the cabinet. So stop predicting anything at all!

Then there was a non-white guy talking about immigration policy being loose, yet complaining about ethnic representation. He cannot have it both ways, first he is clearly a descendant of an immigrant or an immigrant himself. Then he cannot ask others not to come into the UK, yet demanding ethnic representation in the cabinet or in the Parliament. That's nothing, but a very very selfish act.

I personally prefer a world with no boundaries. Why should anyone born by a chance to be in a specific country be confined in that country?

Also I am against the representation of ethnicity or women and ethnic equality, just for the sake of it. I am not against the women or a member of any ethnic group, but I am against appointing a woman or someone from an ethnic background just for the sake of it, why should they be appointed, if there is really someone better and more capable of doing the job, but a man from non-ethnic group?