Nick Clegg: the rich should pay to fund my tax cuts Nick Clegg says he wants the "super wealthy" to pay an extra £1 billion in tax to fund a cut in income tax for lower-paid workers. Having achieved that great figure, that great threshold of £10,000 we need to go further. Because the recovery is finally taking hold, I think it's very important that as many people as possible feel that they're benefitting from it, Mr Clegg suggested the Conservatives are more interested in tax cuts for the rich. "The Conservatives have tended to have a different set of tax priorities - first inheritance tax cuts for very rich people, and then a tax cut of the upper rate of income tax, and now of course the married tax break," he said. In fact, some senior Conservatives have been privately debating the cut Mr Clegg has proposed. John Redwood, the Tory MP and chair of the party's economic affairs committee, has said he supported the policy of raising the personal tax-free allowance but insisted that it should also benefit higher earners. Some Conservatives say Mr Clegg has sprung his tax call on them by surprise. Mr Clegg insisted he had told his Coalition partners about his plans. "They are well aware of this," he said. I was talking to George Osborne and David Cameron about this some time ago. A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Increases in the personal allowance have helped hardworking people and it's a Conservative Chancellor who's not only proud to have introduced them - but found the savings in government spending to pay for them. We always want to help people with lower taxes where we can - and we can consider future tax changes like this at next year's Budget. Of course, any tax changes have to be paid for and consistent with the economic plan that is reducing the deficit and securing the recovery.