Coalition agreement: Liberal Democrats win key concessions
The Conservatives adopted key Liberal Democrat tax proposals in two areas — capital gains tax and anti-avoidance — that were not mentioned in the Tory election manifesto. They also supported a Liberal Democrat election pledge to increase the income tax personal allowance but the parties announced that an allowance of £10 000 was a long-term objective. A Conservative proposal to cut the rates of corporation tax appeared likely to feature in George Osborne's first Budget in late June or early July.
The coalition document published on 12 May set out agreements reached on 'a range of issues'. A coalition agreement covering the full range of policy issues will be published in due course.
A Budget to be held within 50 days will set out the coalition's deficit reduction plan. The parties agreed on the need for a 'significantly accelerated...