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| Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|
| MP decides not to quit government | MP decides not to quit government |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A junior member of the government who was thought to have quit has now said she is not going to leave - following a conversation with Gordon Brown. | A junior member of the government who was thought to have quit has now said she is not going to leave - following a conversation with Gordon Brown. |
| Ministerial aide Angela Smith was believed to have told colleagues she was resigning over the abolition of the 10p starter rate of income tax. | |
| But Downing Street said this was not the case, after she spoke to the prime minister, who is visiting the US. | |
| The tax change has been criticised by dozens of Labour MPs. | The tax change has been criticised by dozens of Labour MPs. |
| Ms Smith, MP for Sheffield Hillsborough, is parliamentary private secretary to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper. | |
| Commons protests | |
| She reportedly told Labour colleagues she was quitting the government over the recent abolition of the 10p starter rate of income tax. | |
| The decision was announced in last year's Budget, when Mr Brown was still chancellor, as was a reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 22% to 20% and increased tax credits. | |
| Critics fear the axing of the 10p rate, which came into effect this month, will hit people on low incomes. | |
| Asked about criticism of the tax move during a press conference at the White House, Mr Brown said: "I'm sticking to the job and I'm getting on with the job." | |
| 'Increases' | |
| More than 70 Labour MPs have signed at least one of three Commons motions criticising the reforms. | |
| The government says the abolition of the 10p rate was an integral part of last year's Budget, in which "millions of people" benefited from the decision to slash the basic rate of income tax. | |
| It says it will lead to "a significant increase" in pensioner tax allowance, a widening of the working tax credit and increases in child benefit and child tax credit. | |
| When it was thought Ms Smith had resigned, the Lib Dems and Conservatives both said the government was "unravelling". | |
| The prime minister, on a three-day tri to the US, also came under fire earlier from Labour peer Lord Desai, who said: "Blair was like champagne and caviar. Brown is more like porridge or haggis. He is very solid, very nourishing, but not exciting." | |
| On Wednesday, Chancellor Alistair Darling said the government needed to "sharpen up" its message to voters. | |
| Ms Smith was not available for comment. |