Married Tax Allowance "Unfair"

8.45.00am GMT Tue 19th Jan 2010

Commenting on today's report on the Tories' marriage tax proposals from Iain Duncan Smith's think tank, The Centre for Social Justice, Nick Clegg's Chief of Staff, Danny Alexander said:

"Iain Duncan Smith's proposals on marriage tax do not address the fundamental unfairness of the Tories' policy."

"Giving tax breaks to married couples where one person can afford to stay at home, but doing nothing for couples who both work is unfair. "

"And penalising a woman whose husband has left her with a tax hike is unfair."

"This policy ultimately takes money out of the pockets of the poorest families and gives it to rich ones."

"The Tories' first instinct is to help those at the top, that's why they can't be trusted to make this country fairer."

Exeter Lib Dem Graham Oakes added:

"Families come in all shapes and sizes and if we want to support children its logical to support families - this proposal only supports some families and actually punishes others for not conforming to the Tory model."

"Fairer taxes, including raising the Income Tax threshold to £10k will help all families, but importantly it will help the poorest families in Exeter the most - the families the Tories just aren't interested in."