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| David Cameron announces £1,000 transferable marriage tax allowance | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A £1,000 transferable marriage tax allowance for lower rate taxpayers will be introduced by the government in April 2015 – one month before the general election – David Cameron has announced. | |
| In a Daily Mail article on the eve of the opening of the Tory conference, the prime minister said that the government would offer a more generous tax break than the £750 proposed in the Tory manifesto for the last election. | |
| The scheme will mean that 4 million couples who are lower rate taxpayers will be able to transfer £1,000 of their personal tax allowance to their spouse or their civil partner. The scheme will be worth up to £200 a year. | |
| In his Daily Mail article the prime minister wrote: "I believe in marriage. Alongside the birth of my children, my wedding was the happiest day of my life. Since then, Samantha and I have been a team. Nothing I've done since – becoming a member of Parliament, leader of my party or prime minister – would have been possible without her. | |
| "There is something special about marriage: it's a declaration of commitment, responsibility and stability that helps to bind families. The values of marriage are give and take, support and sacrifice – values that we need more of in this country. | |
| "When I ran for the leadership of my party back in 2005, I said that I wanted to do more for marriage in the tax system: a personal pledge that I made right at the start of my campaign – and I then backed that up with a pledge in our manifesto at the last election. So this week at the Conservative party's conference in Manchester, I'm going to deliver on the promise I made. | |
| "From April 2015, if neither of you are higher rate taxpayers, you will be able to transfer £1,000 of your tax free allowance to your spouse. | |
| "In effect, if you pay the basic rate of tax and your partner doesn't use all of their personal allowance, you'll be able to have some of it. Most couples who benefit will be £200 a year better off as a result. | |
| "And of course this will be true if you're gay or straight – and in a civil partnership or a marriage. This summer I was proud to make equal marriage the law. Love is love, commitment is commitment." | |
| The father of the Tory modernisation project, Francis Maude, earlier said that marriage acts as a glue in society, as social liberals in the party threw their weight behind Cameron's plans. | |
| As George Osborne finally announces that he will introduce the allowance, dubbed unfair by Nick Clegg, Maude insisted that the move would help create a strong society and would not be seen as a retrograde step. But in a taste of the looming battle, the campaign group Don't Judge My Family accused the Tories of "promoting a fantasy 1950s family". | |
| The chancellor, one of the most socially liberal MPs of any party, who has privately shared some of the reservations about the proposal, will give details of how marriage will be recognised in the tax system in his speech to the Tory conference in Manchester on Monday. The prime minister said in the summer that Tory ministers would introduce proposals in the autumn. Clegg has criticised him for seeking to "hand-pick" couples who conform to a Tory view of how people should lead their lives, though the Liberal Democrats are bound under the coalition agreement to abstain in any parliamentary vote on the measure. | The chancellor, one of the most socially liberal MPs of any party, who has privately shared some of the reservations about the proposal, will give details of how marriage will be recognised in the tax system in his speech to the Tory conference in Manchester on Monday. The prime minister said in the summer that Tory ministers would introduce proposals in the autumn. Clegg has criticised him for seeking to "hand-pick" couples who conform to a Tory view of how people should lead their lives, though the Liberal Democrats are bound under the coalition agreement to abstain in any parliamentary vote on the measure. |
| In a Guardian interview before the conference, which opens on Sunday, Maude offered strong support for the proposal. The Cabinet Office minister, the main driving force behind the modernisation of the Tory party in the early part of the past decade, said: "We want a strong society. Marriage is one of the institutions that creates glue in society and it makes sense to recognise that." | In a Guardian interview before the conference, which opens on Sunday, Maude offered strong support for the proposal. The Cabinet Office minister, the main driving force behind the modernisation of the Tory party in the early part of the past decade, said: "We want a strong society. Marriage is one of the institutions that creates glue in society and it makes sense to recognise that." |
| Maude said the proposal should be seen as a progressive measure because it will be open to same-sex married couples and those in civil partnerships. He said: "When David Cameron announced this commitment to recognising marriage in the tax system he said of course that must apply – and got a round of applause at the Conservative party conference – whether it is a marriage between a woman and a man, a man and a man or a woman and a woman. That was not regarded as a backward-looking thing to commit to." | Maude said the proposal should be seen as a progressive measure because it will be open to same-sex married couples and those in civil partnerships. He said: "When David Cameron announced this commitment to recognising marriage in the tax system he said of course that must apply – and got a round of applause at the Conservative party conference – whether it is a marriage between a woman and a man, a man and a man or a woman and a woman. That was not regarded as a backward-looking thing to commit to." |
| The imminent announcement by Osborne has been the subject of intense negotiations within the coalition after the Lib Dems demanded the introduction of universal free school lunches for infants in return for agreeing to the timing of the marriage tax allowance proposal. | The imminent announcement by Osborne has been the subject of intense negotiations within the coalition after the Lib Dems demanded the introduction of universal free school lunches for infants in return for agreeing to the timing of the marriage tax allowance proposal. |
| Clegg infuriated Downing Street when he contrasted the £600m-a-year cost of his scheme with the similar cost of recognising marriage in the tax system. | Clegg infuriated Downing Street when he contrasted the £600m-a-year cost of his scheme with the similar cost of recognising marriage in the tax system. |
| Julianne Marriott, of Don't Judge My Family, said: "It's about promoting a fantasy 1950s family and won't go to many of the families who need support the most. In these tough times government should be helping families, not judging them." | Julianne Marriott, of Don't Judge My Family, said: "It's about promoting a fantasy 1950s family and won't go to many of the families who need support the most. In these tough times government should be helping families, not judging them." |
| The Tories will meet for their penultimate conference before the 2015 general election cheered by the return of economic growth and signs that they are closing Labour's poll lead. | The Tories will meet for their penultimate conference before the 2015 general election cheered by the return of economic growth and signs that they are closing Labour's poll lead. |
| But some Tories have been unnerved by the Labour conference after Ed Miliband appeared to tap into popular discontent with the Big Six energy companies by pledging to freeze household fuel bills for his first 20 months in office. | But some Tories have been unnerved by the Labour conference after Ed Miliband appeared to tap into popular discontent with the Big Six energy companies by pledging to freeze household fuel bills for his first 20 months in office. |
| Maude was highly critical of Miliband's announcement, which he claimed had quickly unravelled. He said: "It could have been a speech written by Len McCluskey [the Unite general secretary]. I think the issue for Labour is: is Ed Miliband a strong enough leader to stand up to the unions?" | Maude was highly critical of Miliband's announcement, which he claimed had quickly unravelled. He said: "It could have been a speech written by Len McCluskey [the Unite general secretary]. I think the issue for Labour is: is Ed Miliband a strong enough leader to stand up to the unions?" |
| But Michael Gove, the education secretary, who is close to Cameron, struck a more conciliatory note. He told Question Time on BBC: "Ed Miliband is absolutely right to draw attention to one of the worst examples of the way in which people's cost of living is under attack. He is also right to draw attention to the fact that the behaviour of the six major power companies hasn't been entirely admirable ever since they have had a chance to play the market in the way they have. But I do worry that the proposal that he has put forward to address the problem that he has correctly identified isn't as well thought through as it should be … One of the dangers of this proposal is the very next day, when Ed Miliband was on BBC radio, he had to acknowledge that if there was a huge spike in oil prices like we had in the 1970s then he might not be able to deliver his promise." | But Michael Gove, the education secretary, who is close to Cameron, struck a more conciliatory note. He told Question Time on BBC: "Ed Miliband is absolutely right to draw attention to one of the worst examples of the way in which people's cost of living is under attack. He is also right to draw attention to the fact that the behaviour of the six major power companies hasn't been entirely admirable ever since they have had a chance to play the market in the way they have. But I do worry that the proposal that he has put forward to address the problem that he has correctly identified isn't as well thought through as it should be … One of the dangers of this proposal is the very next day, when Ed Miliband was on BBC radio, he had to acknowledge that if there was a huge spike in oil prices like we had in the 1970s then he might not be able to deliver his promise." |
| Maude had a strong message for Tories on the right of the party who are opposed to the leadership's attempts to modernise. He said: "The Conservative party has been around for longer than any other party and it has been more successful over the centuries than any other party and it's done that because it has made itself relevant to Britain as it is. We fail when we become backward-looking and don't seem to be in tune with particularly how younger people see their lives and see the country they want to live in, so if we cease to be a party in tune with contemporary Britain, that's a problem." | Maude had a strong message for Tories on the right of the party who are opposed to the leadership's attempts to modernise. He said: "The Conservative party has been around for longer than any other party and it has been more successful over the centuries than any other party and it's done that because it has made itself relevant to Britain as it is. We fail when we become backward-looking and don't seem to be in tune with particularly how younger people see their lives and see the country they want to live in, so if we cease to be a party in tune with contemporary Britain, that's a problem." |
| The leadership is bracing itself for the "blond moment" on Tuesday when Boris Johnson, who has fuelled speculation about his leadership ambitions by saying how he is missing parliament, addresses conference. | The leadership is bracing itself for the "blond moment" on Tuesday when Boris Johnson, who has fuelled speculation about his leadership ambitions by saying how he is missing parliament, addresses conference. |
| In an FT interview, the mayor of London compared himself to the founder of the Roman empire and said he wished he had been in parliament for the vote on Syria. | In an FT interview, the mayor of London compared himself to the founder of the Roman empire and said he wished he had been in parliament for the vote on Syria. |
| He said: "During the whole Syria thing, for the first time in years I wished I was in parliament. I have to admit that I watched that and I thought … I wished. I wished." | He said: "During the whole Syria thing, for the first time in years I wished I was in parliament. I have to admit that I watched that and I thought … I wished. I wished." |
| Asked which Roman emperor he would associate himself with, Johnson named Augustus. "I know it's ridiculous but he was the first. He was programmatic of our civilisation and there would be no attempt to build a single currency in Europe if it wasn't for the memory of that system he established that kept the continent united for 500 years." | Asked which Roman emperor he would associate himself with, Johnson named Augustus. "I know it's ridiculous but he was the first. He was programmatic of our civilisation and there would be no attempt to build a single currency in Europe if it wasn't for the memory of that system he established that kept the continent united for 500 years." |
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