So why then do so many people continue to malign Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats? The answer is simple People no longer see the Liberal Democrat as a separate Party but as the Coalition Government. And one of the messages the public associate with the Coalition Government is that further austerity measures are on the way This is particularly true of the working poor, who incidentally form more than a quarter of our population Whenever this group complains about the unfairness of one of the austerity measures such as the “Bedroom Tax” they are reminded that the tax threshold has been raised from under £7000 to £10,500, which of course it has thanks entirely to a Liberal Democrat Manifesto Pledge However the unintended (or maybe one that was always planned but hardly ever spoken about) consequence of this change is impact on benefits resulting in reduced overall incomes for the working poor. This group is also disproportionately hit by National Insurances Contributions which are higher than they were in 2010 The other tax that erodes their buying power is of course VAT which was increased from 17.5 percent to 20 percent. When you are on low income every penny taken in tax is a penny less that is available to feed your children or heat your house.
It is no secret that such impacts of his measures on the working poor is the least of Mr Osborne’s concerns. His recent announcement that he intends to limit the benefits cap for a single household to £23,000 will be seen by the working poor as further evidence that they are expected to continue to bear the burden whilst the rich continue to enjoy the fruits of recovery.
If the pundits are to be believed the coming general election will produce another hung Parliament. In that event it is highly likely that Liberal Democrat will be invited to help form the next coalition government. Having had the taste of power it would be surprising if they did not accept the invitation regardless of who it comes from. But this time they will want to ensure that Coalition Agreement is much more Liberal Democrats leaning than the last one. The extent of their bargaining power will of course depend on the number of MPs they have A manifesto pledge not to increase the burden of country’s recovery and growth on the working poor could easily boost the number of their MPs and hence their bargaining power.
