Brown's tax rise promise needs to be tackled before it is too late

Why is it that politicians are allowed to obsfucate meaning so readily and journalists so happily help to parrot their obsfucation? Yesterday we were subjected to Gordon brown telling us that it was "responsible" to borrow what is predicted to be an extra £60bn by the end of the year in order to allow Britain to spend its way out of recession.

At the same time we were told that this would keep the economy moving and when better economic activity returned, the jam tomorrow was delievred, and we were not in a recession anymore, there would be a sharp decrease in that borrowing and the consequence debt.

Now let us cut through the bullshit. What our illustrious former "prudent" Chancellor andnnow complete lying fool of a Prime Minister actually announced yesterday was that he's going to defer £60bn of tax rises, and, when he thinks things are getting better, he will grab that money back from us all.

Time for a reality check. If you have defer massive, and I mean massive tax rises - with an effective promise to implement them when economic activty returns - what you're going to do is kill that economic activity stone dead.

Right at the point when you think the corner is turned you're going to take away the soending capability of the population through tax cuts and the economic activity will start to go backwards yet again. It's not rocket science. Gone is Austerity Brown banging on about the Age of Irresponsibilty. No, now it is the "responsible" thing to promise to increase tax on us by a staggering amount. The question is what taxes will be raised to make us pay for his "investment"?

If past perfiormance is anything to go by then I expect we'll first see a freeze on the tax thresholds to create a little bit of fiscal drag. Possibly an increase in VAT or making VAT chargeable on items for which it wasn't before. Certainly an increase in fuel duty in the coming months. A "readjustment" of inheritance tax threshold in line with falling prices. A reduction in tax rebate on private pension contributions? An increase in National Insurance across the board?

Of course he may not do any of these things because he may not be in power to do so. This latest "responsible borrowing" is really just a burden on future Governments. If the polls are to be beleived it will be the Tories that will be forced to do this and cause much pain and increase the potential of a one term administration where Labour come riding to rescuse as angels of the people who have been so hurt by the evil Tories.

There has been much said about how there is limited dividing line between the parties these days. This however is the opportunity for one to appear. On the one hand you can have Brown's Labour promising to hit you where it hurts in the future, or Cameron's Tories promising to create an economic stimulus by cutting tax and letting us all individually spend our way out of recession. Whether Cameron and the Tory Leadership is willing to have that battle of ideas once more I do not know.