Liberal Democrats attack ads hit Tories where they hurt 'toxic' hidden taxes

Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, campaigns during a local election campaign. His party is targeting the Tories with digital attack ads. Photo: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Liberal Democrats turn the tide in local elections by using ads to attack Conservative MPs for hidden taxes.

the party has launched a series of digital ads in the so-called Blue Wall in the south of England, which they say has been hardest hit by the government's decision to freeze income tax thresholds.

They focus on high-profile figures such as Dominic Raab , a former Attorney General, and note that he voted four times to freeze the threshold.

They show that at his Surrey local council in Elmbridge, this hidden tax is equivalent to an average hit on residents' income this year by £1,486 sterling. That's more than anywhere else in the country with elections coming up in May.

Mr. Raab is the MP for Escher and Walton, where he has a majority of less than 2,000.

More announcements of attacks are coming despite conservatives traditionally blaming the Liberal Democrats. pushing for higher taxes.

Hidden taxes are 'toxic on the doorstep'

Sarah Olney, spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat Treasury Department, said: «Hidden tax increases are proving toxic on the doorstep for former Conservative voters.

«Families are already facing rising mortgages, food prices and energy bills and it's pushing them to the limit.

«I've been campaigning for the Blue Wall and it's clear this issue could cost the Conservative Party seats in their former centers.”

Income tax thresholds—the wages at which people start paying tax in the first place and at which they pay higher rates—usually rise with inflation each year.

But when he was Chancellor, Rishi Sunak froze the thresholds to raise additional billions for the Treasury without formally imposing taxes.

After Liz Truss' disastrous mini-budget last year, Jeremy Hunt said he would extend the threshold freeze until 2028.

& #39;Pure hypocrisy'

The Liberal Democrats' analysis showed that taxpayers in Sevenoaks, Kent, where Laura Trott is an MP, faced an average tax cap of £873.

Then comes Waverley in Surrey, where the hidden tax is equivalent to £836. average. Jeremy Hunt's South West Surrey seat covers this area.

In Windsor and Maidenhead, where the Liberal Democrats hope to succeed in council elections, taxpayers face an average of £824 in hidden tax. The MP for Maidenhead is Theresa May, a former Prime Minister.

These increases are comparable to Blackpool's only £154 implicit tax cuts.

The Liberal Democrats launch digital advertising, aimed at Conservative MPs. who voted in favor of re-raising taxes.

The figures are based on projections from the Office of Budget Responsibility that hidden taxes will cost taxpayers £12bn next year.

A Conservative spokesman said: “ This is pure hypocrisy on the part of an MP whose own Liberal Democrat-run Richmond-upon-Thames council has just raised the council tax to the maximum 5 percent.”