Nick Clegg has accused David Cameron of being "stuck in the past" for opposing a mansion tax, amid signs that the Liberal Democrats are ready to challenge the Tories more vigorously over key aspects of economic policy.
Writing in the Observer ahead of Thursday's crucial Eastleigh byelection, Clegg attacks Cameron and his party for being instinctively against fairer taxation "even as people on lower incomes feel the pinch".
The Lib Dem leader says plans for a mansion tax on properties worth more than £2m, recently backed by Labour, is an idea "whose time has come" and says it is a "certainty" that some levy on high-value properties will be introduced soon. "The Conservatives and opponents of fairer taxes have a choice," Clegg writes. "They can dig their heels in and remain stuck in the past. Or they can join with the Liberal Democrats and the chorus of voices seeking to make our tax system fair. Far better, surely, to move with the times."