Labour MPs have revived their threat to vote against the government over the abolition of the 10p starting rate of tax if the 5.3 million families who lose out do not receive sufficient compensation.
Frank Field, the leader of the Labour rebels, told the Commons last night that he would be willing to force a vote when the finance bill gets to its report stage later this summer if he felt ministers were backsliding.
He also said he expected the compensation package to be "as comprehensive as possible" – a demand the government may find it impossible to meet because it has been estimated that full compensation would cost more than £8bn.
Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, today said the affair illustrated the government's weakness for chasing "popular headlines in the short term", although he also said that he hoped ministers would learn a lesson from what went wrong.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/29/economy.taxandspending
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