article_snippet: Nick Clegg may have praised the Liberal Democrats’ contribution to the Budget – but last night Nick Clegg party was preparing his party own rival offering, writes Tamara Cohen.
article_snippet: Lib Dem leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, takes in the Budget .
article_snippet: After skipping last year’s Autumn Statement, Mr Clegg made sure Mr Clegg was on the front bench to hear the good news in the Budget yesterday, but was spotted fiddling with Mr Clegg phone and pulling a series of faces.
article_snippet: Mr Clegg has insisted it was a ‘Coalition Budget’.
article_snippet: But the Chief Secretary to Treasury will say today that while the Chief Secretary to the Treasury party supports the plans for this year, after 2016 it would diverge from his party dramatically.
article_snippet: – and Labour of planning a spending spree if they win office.
article_snippet: The Lib Dems want to increase the personal tax allowance to £12,500, add more council tax bands for expensive homes, and raise capital gains tax for the wealthiest.
article_snippet: A senior Lib Dem said: ‘Our spending plans post 2015-16 differ from the Tories in a number of key areas.
article_snippet: Our agree on the need to balance the current budget by 2017-18, but Our are talking about running a surplus by carrying on cutting after that.