|
A furious George Osborne swore at Nick Clegg and blamed him for the Budget backlash over the 'granny tax', it was revealed last night.
The Chancellor exploded in anger at the Deputy Prime Minister in a heated confrontation, forcing David Cameron to intervene and act as peacemaker.
At one point, Mr Osborne is said to have referred to the 'f****** Lib Dems'.
Clash: Chancellor George Osborne, right, swore at deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg balming him for the 'granny tax' backlash
The explosive clash came amid a growing Tory revolt against the Coalition's decision to scrap the age-related income tax allowance.
The hardest hit are those turning 65 next year, who will lose 323 annually.
Senior Tory MP David Ruffley, a member of the Commons Treasury Committee, predicted elderly people would be 'bellyaching' for a long time. And Conservative officials said some OAPs had torn up their party membership in protest.
Treasury sources say the backlash over the stealth tax raid was the result of a series of leaks by the Lib Dems which stripped Mr Osborne of 'good news' to unveil on Budget Day.
Mr Osborne was in the United States with the Prime Minister on March 15 when he was told that his decision to cut the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p had been leaked to the Left-wing Guardian newspaper.
Peacemaker: David Cameron was forced to intervene
It was then that he hit out at the 'f****** Lib Dems'.
Tory sources claim it was a last-minute bid by the Lib Dems to force Mr Osborne to abandon the measure by provoking angry protests against it.
When Mr Osborne arrived back in Britain the next day, he took part in a four-way phone call with the Coalition's other key players: Mr Cameron, Mr Clegg and Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander.
Mr Osborne tore into Mr Clegg and Mr Alexander, claiming the leak had come from the Lib Dems and that it had severely disrupted his Budget Day plans.
According to some sources, Mr Cameron had to step in to calm things down.
But there was more anger among senior Tories when further key Budget decisions were leaked before Mr Osborne made his statement to the Commons on Wednesday.
Raising the tax threshold to over 9,000 was revealed to BBC2's Newsnight on Tuesday, while the cut in corporation tax and decision to impose seven per cent stamp duty on homes worth more than 2?million were leaked to the Financial Times on Wednesday.
Conservative insiders say the leaks came from the Lib Dems – a claim their Coalition partners deny.
Government sources say that if Mr Osborne had been able to announce the major decisions on Wednesday, the 'granny tax' would have been a side issue.
Instead, according to the Tories, the Lib Dems leaked them so that Mr Clegg could claim the credit for the most popular Budget decision – lifting the tax threshold to 9,000.
In an interview to be broadcast on today's BBC1 Sunday Politics programme, Tory MP David Ruffley said: 'Pensioners are going to be bellyaching about this for a while.
'The grey vote is powerful and [Osborne] could have thought better of it and found the money elsewhere.'
Lancaster and Fleetwood Conservative MP Eric Ollerenshaw said: 'In the helter-skelter of trying to get a Budget for growth and jobs, something was lost in the detail.'
A Treasury spokesman said: 'We are continuing to work harmoniously with our Liberal Democrat Coalition partners.'
One senior Minister added: 'There is nothing wrong in having a row as long as you get over it. This is not like the Brown-Blair era. Cameron, Clegg and Osborne don't hold grudges.'
tthe Tories have little to fear as greedy oldcoffin dodgers are not going to vote labour at a general election.
- will, London, 25/3/2012 06:16
Report abuse