Writing on wall for hapless PM

OVER the past 11 years, one of the too-clever-by-half political traits of Gordon Brown has been the regularity with which he has made an announcement about some tax or benefit change in a Budget speech, only for it not to kick-in until the following year.

This often gave him the advantage of being able to announce some good news (masking the bad, which normally came later in the small print of the Finance Bill) but not have to pay for it until at least 12 months had passed.

While the political scene was going well, with the Tories taking years to come to terms with Tony Blair and being in opposition, this ruse worked very well. It allowed Blair and Brown to talk about these nuggets of positivity far longer – a sort of double accounting of good news.

The trouble for Brown is that when the political scene turns sour the negatives stack up very quickly, to the point where it seems that – like the number 26 bus – they just keep coming.

Take the abolition of the 10p tax rate, for instance. The idea of this tax band was to wrong-foot the Tories and appear like a tax cutter for the low paid, while all along everyone's taxes have been going through the roof. With public finances getting in a mess, Brown decided the 10p band had served its purpose and could be removed – hurting those low paid not receiving so-called tax "credits".

Creating a simpler, flatter tax system was the right thing to do. But it should have been accompanied by the raising of the threshold at which tax is first paid so as to protect the lowest paid – something that Brown's glove-puppet Chancellor, Alastair Darling, was forced to do only after a backbench revolt.

Coming as it did after some inept and dithering displays of leadership over the aborted general election and the handling of the Northern Rock crisis, Brown has, for a number of months now, looked to be on the retreat – to the extent that Labour members are openly discussing who should replace him and the media luvvies who once courted him are queuing up to befriend David Cameron.

The Crewe and Nantwich by-election result was a manifestation of how the public mood has turned against Brown and Labour.

It takes you back to the tipping point when everyone began to desert John Major's government, having made the calculation that Tony Blair would win.

We are about to witness yet another example of Brown storing up trouble with yet another pre-announced increase in fuel duty due to arrive in October, and a large hike in road tax for most cars to come next year. Already the Treasury coffers are £1.5 billion better off because of the increase in oil prices – but Brown is now so desperate for our cash that his planned increase will be difficult to give up.

Any change in the new car and fuel taxes – whilst welcome – will just make Brown look even weaker. The public and Labour MPs in marginal seats can smell blood.

The tax rises can always be put off, but in the end Brown's day of reckoning has already been pre-announced.

Wilting gardens
The council is indeed to be congratulated on its lease of St Andrew Square Garden and opening it up to the public.

But before we get carried away with which gardens it should tackle next, might I make an appeal for it to do a better job with the ones it actually owns – such as Princes Street Gardens?

Potholes, under-funded flowerbeds and the Ross Bandstand make this a garden that is living on its laurels – from past investment over the last 100 years.

At a ceremony last week I sat behind some dignitaries, including the Lord Provost who, when asked to stand, were blissfully unaware that the council's decrepit sky-blue seats had left large chalky marks on their dark suits. Sweet justice methinks.

Cure for the workshy
Farmers have a reputation for moaning, but they have every right to complain when they are having to pay £100 a day to attract migrant workers because the local unemployed refuse to get out of their beds.

Why is it, though, that there are 11,000 unemployed people in the region who believe fruit picking is beneath them? After all, there are many salaried people being paid less.

There will always be people who are idle and look for the easy life – but another reason is that for some it pays to remain unemployed, as we have removed the incentive to work.

Taxing people as soon as they have earned £5435, only to give them back some benefits calculated at great expense by an army of bureaucrats is just madness.

Remove the tax "credits" plus the staff who run this system and double the tax- free allowance for everyone to £10,000. People will soon recognise the benefit of working then.