David Cameron: better off will have to pay higher taxes dismissed Ukip as a "waste of time." said he favoured a "modest" lowering in the abortion limit. claimed to have "the opposite of tall poppy syndrome" and was relaxed about the popularity of Boris Johnson. Wealth taxes Mr Cameron defended the decision to cut the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p, saying that the highest 10 per cent of earners were already paying the largest per centage towards tackling the deficit. He went on: "We are going to take further action to make sure the richest people in this country pay a fair share. I don't actually believe we should be a country where, if you work hard, so save and buy a house ...that every year [the Government] comes after you with a massive great tax. We will always be fair and be seen to be fair. At their conference, Lib Dem delegates voted in favour of a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2 million, and called for a "wealth tax" on the better off. Appearing on Sky's Murnaghan show, Mr Osborne was also asked about the Liberal Democrats' plans. He said: "I don't think either of those ideas are the right ones... we're not going to have a new mansion tax, nor do I think it's sensible to have a wealth tax. Before the election it will be sold to you as a mansion tax and then after the election a lot of the people in Britain are going to wake up and find their more modest homes have suddenly been reclassified as a mansion. So we're not going to have a new mansion tax, nor do I think it's sensible to have a wealth tax in the sense of a sort of tax on your wealth levied annually. Other countries have tried that and it hasn't work, and it's driven enterprise and investment abroad. So we're not going to do those two ideas, but I'm very clear that the rich will have to make a contribution to closing the budget deficit. We've taken those decisions because we're very clear that the richest in our society have to contribute most to dealing with these problems of debt and deficit and so on. But we're equally clear that frankly you can't ignore a welfare system where it has paid people in some cases to not work, rather than to work. So we're also addressing the welfare system, and frankly you're not a serious contributor to the debate about how to deal with debt and deficit if you think it can exclusively be done by taxes on the rich. We completely understand that it's got to be done across the board, looking at government spending, but we're also very clear that both in the budgets I've already had as Chancellor and in future budgets, the rich will bear the greatest share of the burden of dealing with this problem. Mr Osborne dismissed criticism of his decision to cut the top rate of tax as a "synthetic debate." Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat peer who is close to Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, described the decision to reject the mansion tax as a "disastrous own goal to back millionaires against Middle England." He went on: "Cameron and Osborne's top priority for help in tough times: squeezed millionaires not squeezed middle. Less than one per cent of properties are worth over £2 million. Europe Mr Cameron effectively ruled out an "in-out" referendum on Europe, saying he wanted to renegotiate the terms of Britain's relationship with the EU. Confirming that voters would be given the opportunity to have a say on that relationship, he suggested it might not be in the form of a referendum. Instead, they could be asked to back the parties' policies towards Europe in a general election. Asked if this meant that voters who wanted an in-out referendum should turn to Ukip, the Prime Minister dismissed the anti-EU party as a "waste of time." "The trouble with a straight yes or no, as we stand today, is frankly I'm not happy with the status quo, so I don't want to have to say yes to the status quo, but I also don't think it would be right to leave like that, because we would basically be coming out of a single market, which our businesses badly need," he said. Most people in our country don't actually want to leave the European Union or just accept how it is at the moment - they want to change it; I want to change it. A Conservative-only Government after the next election can go and change it, can have that renegotiation, particularly as you see Europe opening up in all the ways that I've explained. Saying that the upheaval in the EU represented a "great opportunity" for Britain to get a new "deal" within Europe, he added: "I think the opportunity will open up, over time, to get a new settlement, and when we get that new settlement, after the next election, we should have new consent for that settlement. That could either take place through a referendum, or possibly if it was close to one, at a general election. Mr Cameron backed calls by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, for a review of the rules which allow citizens of EU nations free movement within the Union, saying this was having an impact on the job market. And he repeated his warning that he would veto the next European budget if it involved "massive increases," although he refused to say what the limit should be. If they put forward ideas for massive increases. I won't say yes to it," he said. People in Europe know I mean what I say. They know I'm capable of saying no, and if we don't get a good deal I'll say no again. Boris Johnson The Mayor of London is expected to play a prominent role at Conservative conference, with a speech on Tuesday, appearances on the fringe and media interviews lined up. Mr Cameron claimed to be relaxed about his rival's popularity, saying he had the "opposite of tall poppy syndrome." "I think he's a fantastic London Mayor," he said. I like people in the Conservative Party who are popular. Abortion The Prime Minister defended Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, who has been criticised for calling for the abortion limit to be lowered to 12 weeks, saying this was his personal view. He said that the Government had no plans to alter the abortion laws, and that if the issue came before Parliament then MPs would be given a free vote. "My own view is that a modest reduction from the 24 weeks would be right," he said.