Officials Offer Last Chance to Introduce Marriage Tax Break in UK
Senior Members of Parliament have called for Chancellor George Osborne to introduce a marriage tax break this week, insisting that it will be his last chance to make good on a pledge that has been sputtering in parliament for months.
Former families minister Tim Loughton said that the transferrable tax allowance would save married couples £150 when there is one spouse that stays at home.
Loughton said that this week's "autumn statement by the Chancellor is absolutely the last opportunity for the Government to make clear the importance that they place on marriage."
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Other prominent members said the government should use the tax break to show their support for traditional marriage.
"A commitment was made in the coalition agreement, but we need a full-blooded commitment, not one that only tinkers around the edges with a half-hearted endorsement of what we all believe in," Laughton added.
The Bishop of Chester had also recently insisted that the British government bring about the tax breaks for married couples during a debate in the House of Lords.
During his remarks, Bishop Forster explained that Members of Parliament should ease the economic burden of married families. He also insisted that- should the new tax measures be implemented- it would reinforce commitment to the traditional family.
"Good marriages are not just a benefit for the couple themselves, and their children, but serve to strengthen the wider society of which they are a part," Forster told The Christian Institute.
Unfortunately, the new tax breaks may never happen, given the continued push by the British government to redefine marriage- it was mentioned in the Conservative Party's manifesto.
To add to the resistance, Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg has already voiced his opposition to such tax breaks for married couples, saying that it is wrong to discriminate between people who are married and who cohabit, effectively just living together.
