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One of my proudest achievements as part of the Coalition is to have cut taxes for working people.

This was such a high priority for the Liberal Democrats that at the last election we put cutting your income tax on the front page of our manifesto.

And we have done that every year in this government, raising the ­tax-free threshold from just £6,475 under Labour to £10,500 as of next April – saving you £800 a year.

That’s actually £100 more than we proposed in our manifesto.

We’re not stopping there. We want to raise the tax-free threshold to £12,500, saving you another £400 a year.

And once we’ve done that we’ll start cutting your National Insurance too.

David Cameron said last week that the Conservatives now want to raise the tax-free allowance to the same level.

That’s an astonishing change of tack from a party which opposed it at the last election and has privately resisted it at every Budget since.

When I said in the leaders’ debates in 2010 that I wanted to raise the tax-free threshold, David Cameron turned to me and said: “That’s a lovely idea, Nick, but we can’t afford it.”

Instead they wanted to cut inheritance tax for millionaires.

(Image: Reuters)

Every year, in exchange for Liberal Democrat tax cuts, the Tories have insisted on a trade-off.

They wanted to cut taxes for top earners.

They insisted on a scheme where employees give up their rights in exchange for shares.

They demanded a tax-break that would apply to a fraction of married couples at the expense of widows, widowers and people who choose not to marry.

Even now, the other side of their announcement was a tax cut worth nearly five times as much for the top 10%. So much for fairness.

For Liberal Democrats, letting you keep more of the money you earn is a matter of principle.

We believe fundamentally in spreading opportunity and removing the barriers that hold people back.

Cutting taxes for working people is central to that.

If Liberal Democrats are in government again, we will cut your taxes further.

The proof is that we have done it every year we have been in government.

This has never been a priority for the Conservatives.

Fairness never is.

Only the Liberal Democrats can build a stronger economy and a fairer society so that everyone has the opportunity to get on in life.