Following today's announcement of the UK government's new "green policy" towards renewable energy, which is set to cost UK taxpayers a 20% levy on energy bills, the government has also rushed out a statement regarding less well-off families. In what is being called a "social tariff" the energy companies will be forced to charge those less well-off families significantly less than more affluent families with regards to the energy bill tariff.

The government is in grave danger of falling into the trap of so-called "stealth taxes" which have dogged Gordon Brown for the last decade and appear set to follow him again. The authorities are having great difficulty in balancing up the need to help the less well-off families and be unfair to those who earn more. Surely the UK income tax system is more than enough to penalise the more well off of society when you also take into account various social security benefits?

Tony Blair led the Labour government to successive victories because he was able to catch the attention of the middle classes, something which Gordon Brown appears to have missed completely. Whether this so-called social tariff will have any impact on the next general election remains to be seen but robbing the rich to assist the poor he is a very risky game to play.

»» Return to Homepage

»» Full Household bills News Archive

»» Bad Credit? Need a Loan