Gordon Brown targets wealthy and warns of ‘hard tax choices’

Gordon Brown today refused to rule out further tax rises for the wealthy in the face of Britain's ballooning deficit.

Warning of "hard choices and difficult choices" in the years ahead, the Prime Minister said recent tax increases had succeeded in helping the country through the recession — and left the door open to more.

"Nobody wants to raise taxes but I think people want us to show that we've got a sensible deficit reduction plan and one that is fair across the board to the population of the country," he said.

A new top-rate tax of 50 per cent on those earning more than £150,000 is due from next April, part of measures targeting the wealthy to raise an additional £7 billion a year.

Mr Brown said it had been "a difficult decision", along with tax rises on petrol and alcohol, but insisted that families on low and
middle incomes had been better protected.

In an interview with the Financial Times to mark the start of the new political season, he refused repeatedly, however, to say they would be enough to tackle a Budget gap predicted to reach £175 billion this year, with debt expected to burst over £1 trillion for the first time.

"Further decisions that we have to make are a matter for future Budgets and pre-Budget reports," Mr Brown said.

He echoed Chancellor Alistair Darling by acknowledging some spending programmes would have to be cut and was "cautiously optimistic" about future growth.

Mr Brown also called for a "clawback" system for bankers' bonuses as part of international reforms of the financial sector.

Under his plan, bankers would not be allowed to cash-in bonuses for three years. They could be cancelled if the deals for which they were awarded turned sour.

"I think you've got to be absolutely clear that remuneration has got to be based on long-term
success, not short-term speculative deals," said Mr Brown.