Tories pin election hopes on tax giveaways

Unveiling its manifesto, leader David Cameron confirmed his pledge to raise the higher rate income tax threshold - above which earnings are taxed at 40p in the pound - to £50,000 from £42,385. The Conservatives would also take all 30-hour a week workers earning the minimum wage out of income taxation altogether. This would be achieved by raising the personal income tax allowance by £2,000 to £12,500 by 2020, and then enshrining in law that as the minimum wage rises, so too does the personal allowance. The two moves would cost the Treasury £7bn, Cameron said. Third in the Tories'...