Darling: 'I didn't steal Tory policies'

Chancellor Alistair Darling has denied that he stole the Tories’ policies in
his pre-Budget report.

Speaking to Accountancy Age, Darling said today: ‘[I said earlier
this year] that I was considering a major tax reform package, which I would
announce in the pre-budget report. That is what I have done.’

Darling gave separate interviews to Accountancy Age and the
Financial Times earlier this year outlining his views on various
subjects, including non-doms.

‘Included in that was looking at inheritance tax, the treatment of non-dom
taxpayers and private equity,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t going to be put off by
unaffordable announcements by Mr Osborne at the Tory Party Conference. And
indeed I wasn’t.

‘If you look at what I did, it is absolutely reasonable to give married
couples the same tax allowance for inheritance tax as they have for capital
gains tax. I did it because it was affordable.

‘I wasn’t reacting to announcements at the Tory conference. I started work on
yesterday’s statement in July almost as soon as I arrived in the Treasury and I
wasn’t going to change it because of what Mr Osborne said in Blackpool,’ said
Darling.