Is Ed Miliband A Tax Expert?

So what can be said about Ed Miliband the new Labour leader and his belief that the VAT rise from 17.5% to 20% is the wrong tax at the wrong time?

Is it in fact that Ed Miliband is the wrong leader at the wrong time?

Before we consider that question we need to ask the key question what experience does Ed Milliband have to be able to make such a bland statement.?

What better policy or policies does he have to offer. What can he really bring to the table.?

Mr Milliband is critical of the coalition for "going to far and to fast" in reducing public spending and increasing indirect taxes. Yet his very own Labour Chancellor Allistair Darling had not ruled out the possibilty of changes to the rate of VAT when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister.

I think Mr Milliband has to acknowledge some basic home truths before he can criticise the Liberal Conservative coalition.

Firstly he needs to realise that it was his own Government who have brought such an economic disaster to the UK. I am sure we can all remember those amazing words of the last Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer when he used to say on each budget day "no more boom or bust" and then he allowed such a boom and such a bust that has not been seen in the UK since the Great depression.

The previous Prime Minister Gordon Brown has to be remembered for many poor decisions and one of which was to sell 400 Metric Tons of the UK Gold reserves at the lowest price for some 20 years. The sale was inept to say the least. It was announced to the markets their intention to make the sale and in so doing undoubtedly substantially reduced the price that could have been obtained in the future as the intended impending sale over hung the market.

Of course it would undoubtedly have been far better from a marketing angle to sell into a climbing market.

The price obtained was less than US$ 300 an oz currently the price of gold in January 2011 is over US$ 1,400 a gain of some 400% or to the British tax payer a very substantial loss. Who was one of the key advisers to Gordon Brown during this time and sent various memos to the Bank of England asking for their support and blessing (which was not forthcoming) it was of course the new leader of the Labour Party.

The previous Government have brought the UK to a severe economic deficit substantially of their own creation or failure in basic financial supervision as it all happened on there watch that it all went wrong.

So Miliband has no claims to being an economic guru nor does he offer any policies but has the cheek to debate about the coalition policies.

We know that his judgement is suspect as the last MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth Phil Woolas was appointed a shadow minister by Ed Milliband but then he lost the seat for smearing his Liberal Democrat opponent Elwyn Watkins during the general election.


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The author writes many articles on current affairs and for more information please go to Ed Miliband.