Gordon Brown is facing yet another bankbench rebellion - but this over something he put in place before he even became Prime Minister, back in the 2007 Budget (but didn’t come in to force until after the 2008 Budget): the abolition of the 10p tax rate.
This was - and is - opposed by the Conservatives and the Lib Dems at the time and since. But Labour MPs have now - more than two years after it was announced and more than a year after it come in to force - decided that they don’t like it after all.
Gordon Brown brought in the 10p tax soon after becoming Chancellor, and then abolished it in just before leaving the post. It was one of the few good things he did as Chancellor.
These 10p tax rebels are a long way behind the times. Since Brown abolished the tax rate, he has been elected as Labour leader and survived many backbench rebellions and coup attempts.
So it is more than slightly hypocritical for these Labour MPs to suddenly now be objecting to this tax on the poor.
Chris, not sure what you mean when you say that they are hypocrites. Fill me in please? Field said back when the 10p rate was abolished that they’d be back on the issue.