Lewis defends rallying call

3:42pm Tuesday 19th August 2008

OUTSPOKEN MP Ivan Lewis has defended controversial comments after a senior Government official told him to mind his own business or face the sack.

Several national newspapers reported that Mr Lewis, who is MP for Bury South and a health minister, had called for a “super tax” for the rich and had become the first minister to comment on the state of the economy.

An unnamed Government source close to Prime Minster Gordon Brown, said: “If Mr Lewis can’t concentrate on his day job, he’ll soon find himself without one.”

Speaking to the Bury Times, Mr Lewis denied that he called for a super tax, but stood by his original call for his Labour Party to do all it can to be fair to people hit hardest by the credit crunch.

The row broke out at last weekend when Mr Lewis wrote an article in the Sunday Times about how Labour could change its economic approach to win back voters.

His article was a rallying call for the Government, which is fearing it could be kicked out of Downing Street due to a resurgent Conservative Party and because voters are angry at huge food and fuel price hikes and at economic decisions made by Mr Brown.

Opinion polls suggest that, if a general election were held tomorrow, the Conservatives would win.

Mr Lewis insisted in the article he was not suggesting specific policies should be brought in because those were the decisions for Mr Brown and the Chancellor, Alistair Darling.

At least one of his colleagues thought he was stepping out of lane - especially as it was only two months ago Mr Lewis last spoke out in public when he said the Government needed to listen to people more.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Lewis told the Bury Times: “I made it clear in my Sunday Times article that it’s not my job to make economic decisions.

“However, it’s very important that we now focus on not only people on low income, but hard-pressed middle-class people on fixed incomes with large mortgages under great financial pressure.

“We also need to help the pensioners whose small occupational savings or weekly pensions mean they miss out on extra benefits and we must help the young people who want the chance to own their own home.”

He added: “I didn’t propose a so-called ‘super tax’ for the rich.

What I said was, if as a result of the current economic situation, the only way to help hard-pressed middle-class families is to ask the highest earners to pay more, then serious consideration should be given to that.

I don't think this is necessarily a detailed answer, but I stand by what I said. Labour must always be the party of fairness.”