Davey says far right in Britain now better funded and supported than in the past – UK politics live

Davey turns to tax.

Look what’s happened over the last few years – because of the lack of growth.

Desperate for another source of money, governments – both Conservative and Labour – have taken it out of people’s pockets.

How? By freezing the tax-free personal allowance.

Raising income tax by stealth.

Taking hundreds of pounds more out of the payslips of ordinary people, every year.

A stealth tax to pay the cost of the economic vandalism of Johnson and Farage.

When we were in government, our party did the opposite.

We raised the personal allowance by £4,000.

Taking more than 3 million people out of paying income tax altogether.

It was a profoundly liberal thing to do.

Rewarding hard work and aspiration. Helping the lowest paid the most.

Trusting people to spend their own money, not telling them the state knows best.

And here comes the big policy announcement.

So I’m announcing our plan to raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000.

Taking 2 million more people out of paying tax altogether, and giving most taxpayers a £680 tax cut.

Real money, back in people’s pockets.

Now – you might have heard Robert Jenrick say something similar at Reform’s conference. In between trying to defend Farage’s latest funding scandal.

But here’s the big difference.

Jenrick didn’t say this, but Reform’s figures show they’d pay for it by ripping £22 billion of crucial support away from disabled people.

Think about that. Reform say you can have a tax cut, but only if they get to punish disabled people at the same time.

We say no. We can cut taxes and support the most vulnerable people in our country.

Because we will pay for our tax cut fairly and honestly.

Not with more borrowing. Not with fantasy spending cuts that never materialise. Not by hiking your taxes by stealth elsewhere.

We will pay for it from the dividends of growth. The growth that comes from our bold new partnership with Europe.

Here is Peter Walker and Alexandra Topping’s story on this.

And here is an extract from the story, with some of the detail not set out in the speech.

Addressing the party’s annual conference in Brighton, the Lib Dem leader said the proposal, which would eventually increase the threshold for paying income tax to £15,000 and raise the level at which people pay the 40p higher rate by about £6,000, would be paid for entirely by increased growth.

This growth, the Lib Dems argue, would be created through rejoining the EU’s single market and customs union.

As making a deal with the EU would take time, the actual tax cuts would only happen in the final year of a parliament, potentially as late as 2034, costing £17bn. In the interim years, thresholds would be raised by inflation, thus keeping levels effectively stable.

There would also be a smaller increase to the 45p additional rate of tax, currently payable above £125,000.