Mandelson attacks “big mistake” 10p tax change
European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has described the government’s decision to scrap the 10p tax rate as a “very big mistake”.
Mr Mandelson also warned prime minister Gordon Brown against abandoning one of New Labour’s key principles, helping the poor, during an interview with BBC News.
“If you lose one tenet then the whole edifice starts looking shaky and that’s what’s happened,” he said.
Describing the decision to scrap the tax rate, Mr Mandelson said: “It was rather a large mistake and there we are, it was a mistake and now they’re trying to put it right.
“It was a mistake because it violated that key tenet of New Labour, which is that we look after the poor and needy in society.
“It goes along, around with the other key components’ of a New Labour whole and if you lose one section and if you lose one tenet then the whole edifice starts looking shaky and that’s what’s happened.”
Mr Mandelson said that if Labour continued to abandon its key tenets it may well lose the next general election.
A Populus opinion poll published in The Times newspaper yesterday added further woe for Mr Brown, suggesting that 55 per cent of Labour voters thought the chances of success in the next election would improve if the prime minister stepped down.
