Thousands of the poorest households in Cornwall will be hit by Gordon Brown's abolition of the 10p starting rate of income tax.

Cornwall's five Liberal Democrat MPs are urging constituents who find themselves worse off to get in touch, with the changes set to be costly for many lower-paid individuals. Single person households will be most acutely affected, with people on incomes below £19,355 paying an additional £232 a year in income tax. Low-earning couples and some women over 60 will also be worse off. With median earnings in Cornwall at £13,300 thousands of people in the county will be hit.

Across the United Kingdom, 5.3 million households will lose out from this package of changes.

Liberal Democrat MPs this week voted against the abolition of the 10p tax rate this week, as they did during last year's Finance Bill. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have criticised the government, despite abstaining when the issue was voted on last year in Parliament.

Promises of a compensation package for those affected have been shown to be empty words as the Government failed to specify when these would be issued, how long they would last for and who exactly would be compensated.

Dan Rogerson, MP for North Cornwall said: "Once again, this Government has demonstrated that they will do nothing for those in the UK on low earnings, with talk of compensation packages clearly just an attempt to divert attention from this unfair tax hike on those who can least afford it."

Julia Goldsworthy, MP for Falmouth and Camborne added: "The Government has known for over a year that these tax changes would hit some of the poorest people in this country . Despite the threat of a backbench rebellion, and the promise of a U-turn, there is still no guarantee that all losers from these changes will be fully compensated.

"Hardworking, low-paid local people should not lose out through this Government's incompetence. The public have every right to be cynical about government promises to lessen the impact of these changes while there is still silence on the detail of how this will be achieved."

8:00am Friday 2nd May 2008

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