How sad that the prevoius Chancellor - Mr Prudence - failed in making a quick and simple adjustment to correct his last chancellorship error.
At an apprporiate level say £35000 reduce the tax code by 600 the increased income would pay for the 10p error.
Why shouldn't the higher earners assist!

G J Walker, Witham,

It's best to up the personal allowance by the full amount of the lost 10% tax band and "pay" for it by reducing the 40% threshold to match - so that no ones loses and our Government won't need to borrow.

GUY TURNER, LONDON, UK

I am on a low income and since this new tax coding I am £23 a month worse off. Now I cannot buy enough food, let alone clothes and other essentials.

The Government certainly lives up to the true meeaning of the word 'Politics' to lie.

Glyni, Brighton, East Sussex

Apart from the 2.7 billion to pay for this bebacle, the admin costs are also astronomical - keeps the revenue in business!!
Another nail in the coffin towards third world status.

Colin, Molesey, UK

What I don't understand, is that the plan to end the 10p rate was in last year's Budget. Why didn't the politicians who are making so many waves about it now, do so last year - when it would have been so much easier to sort the problem out?

bob wilkinson, milnthorpe, uk

Positive message from Phil Bateman of Wolverhampton! Are you Labour Councillor Phil Bateman? don't know if you retained your seat this year, though!

Frank Field, your grovelling was sickening! Bet we don't get an increase in Tax allowance for the next 3 years to pay for it!

Katy, York,

Do you know I don't think they are even thinking about this one, all they have really done is give extra money to the higher earners. The lower paid and pensioners still live in poverty. No tax at all should be taken under £15000 and all the higher bands left as they were 22 and say 42.

Tony, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex

Mr Darling can find £55Bn for Northern Rock a failed private enterprise but not for funding for equipment for the armed services fighting their war and threatens higher tax or cuts in spending when he has to find £2.7Bn to put right a complete and utter debacle in tax legislation. When will it end?

Nigel Fawcett, Fareham, Hampshire

I believe the official explanation for dropping the 10p tax band was to simplify tax. It seems to me to have grossly over complicated it. I wonder if the administrative cost of coming up with a 'solution' and the cost of implementing it have been acknowledged or will it be swept under the carpet?

G. Williams, Solihull, UK

I don't see why the Chancellor needs to borrow £2.7B as he will have a tax windfall from the petrol price increases. The price of petrol has increased some 20p per litre in the last few months and the Chancellor will have collected the extra duty to pay for sorting out the 10p tax crisis.

Janusz Adamson, Broughton, Stockbridge,

To be honest I try to spend as little money on taxable items as possible. So I get fresh fruit and veg rather than VAT ready meals!

James, Bristol,

A desperate measure to try and save his own political career. If he wishes to do the best for the country, there is only one avenue left open to him.

James, Leeds, UK

Reading the unanimously negative feedback from so many readers on this subject (they can't all be Tory voters) suggests that the PM will be lucky to be in his job by the end of the summer.

Mark, Nottingham,

"Anyone earning less than £15000 pa should be removed from the tax equation completely and those at the higher end should pay a little more because they can well afford to.

Ian Dickson, Brighton , UK"

Let me guess, you are on just less than £15K???

James, Bristol, UK

No one likes paying taxes and any change to taxation is going to be unpopular but there is a global economic crisis and the UK is not immune. HMGov are doing what they can to help the most people. The are winners and losers but there is no perfect solution. Don't expect the Cons to be any better.

Justin Kirby, Livingston, Scotland

There will still be 1.1 million low paid workers paying higher tax at the end of this with nothing promised to help them. It is still disgraceful and immoral as this money has gone to the relatively wealthy. I sincerely hope voters haven't been conned by this rhetoric from Labour. They are inept.

judy, Liverpool, England

Yes I am a pensioner and feel that since labour took control of the Country we are paying a lot more tax on everything and when this is said to them the first thing they say it is was done by the other leading party, it is time they realise that most of the people are feed up with the name calling.

Cora-Anne McVciar, Bishopton, Scotland

I just think this is a complete joke, do they really think this is going to make any difference and make us think they really care, utter joke. Hope people see though this for what it is, and vote to get them out! Years of tax increases and stealth tax are finally hitting them in the face.

Matt, Thrapston,

£120 may just cover the increase cost of essential motor fuel for three months, and £80 + of that will be tax revenue.
What a shambles, which fools nobody.

Brian Thompson, Sutton Coldfield, England

My tax code was changed for this new year taking into account my pension of £53 per week which I started to collect last July when I became 60, and now I find I am £40 per month down on my part time earnings, now I see I am to get £120 back but what about the other £360 I have lost - HELP THE AGED..

Linda Careless, Aldridge, UK

Well said Simon.
At the end of all this we're still worse off than when we first started. Why in God's name is Gordon Brown still standing, I think I'd be on my knees with the humiliation that he has gone through. Give up Mr. Brown.

Kelsey, Penrhiwceiber,

Labour are only giving us back our money due to their punative tax regieme and thus trying to look good for the good people of Nantwich and Crewe who go to the polls on 22nd May.

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

Want to win an election, Gordon? Here's an idea.

Simplify the complex tax arrangements you yourself put in place over a decade including the ridiculous WFT credit and the whole panoply of offsetting arrangements.

Mark, Reading, UK

Gordon's 'solution' to the problem he created is to create an even bigger mess. He's compensated people who didn't lose out and some that did still will. Why didn't he reverse the 10p/20p tax changes and spend the year working out how to do the changes he wants properly. Oh - Crewe to be bribed.

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

Brown is in a mess, but will Cameron make some binding statements regarding taxation and crime if he's brought to power? I doubt it!

Hamad Lone, London, England

We have not yet heard the details of the adjustment to the 40% tax rate threshold.

When the by-election is safely past the 40% rate may be changed so that it finances the whole £2.7b. Higher rate tax payers may yet pay for the whole thing by losing much more than £120.

Ubi, Edinburgh, UK

U-turns on income tax and corperation tax, what about the non-dom tax that was rushed in. Governments have previously known better to not mess with this because of the effects it could have, but not this government. Time for a change?

Neil, Leicester, UK

This is typical Labour knee-jerk reaction rather than proper medium-term planning. They are ruining NHS Dentistry and now it looks like they are incompetent at other jobs too.

This country is already over taxed, over priced and over controlled. It's time for change.

Sam Redman, London, UK

Let's be clear: Brown has not "shelled out" a penny. I, and several million tax payers, have shelled out to cover his and his Chancellor's embarassment.

Instead of grabbing every penny of our hard-earned (to continue your tone), why not cut some taxes and duties to make us really better off?

Nobby Clark, Perth,

I spotted the regressive nature of the 10p band withdrawal immediately following the March 2007 Budget and emailed my MP with my concerns.

The longer this has been allowed to drag on the worse it gets.

Clearly there is a lack of intellectual rigour in both Parliament and Treasury "think tanks".

John Howard Norfolk, Tiverton, Devon, UK

a blatant political bribe! everyone in this country has to pay much less tax and the tax bands need to be much more progressive...two bands is just stupid. anyone look at the income tax structure in the states? 35% when earning over 180,000 GBP looks pretty good to me.

Alex, London, England

Typical Labour.........They have no financial sense. All they can do is to borrow and spend.....get the country into more debt and then tax us more to pay off those never ending debts.....Have any of them ever done a proper days work? do they actually know what it is like out here in the real world

Peter, Birmingham,

Wonderful how we are told we will be £120 better off. How? He took £240 from me and is "giving back" £120. Big Deal. Am I supposed to be grateful?

Judes, Surrey,

The pickpocket Brown cheated us for years with his stealth taxes. Now the economy is sliding he blames the USA subprime crisis whereas the credit problems here are entirely of his making.
Get rid of this dishonest, self serving and corrupt government.

john, lincoln,

What a kefuffle!. If this had been proposed in the first budget we would be applauding as this government would be doing what it should by helping the poorer members out of tax.

The fact that the initial proposal by BROWN didnot forsee the difficulty for the more vulnerable is the appalling bit

bill, cornwall,

all pensioners with incomes up to £30000 should be free of income tax

R Bourne, Maidstone , UK

What we need is

* a complete overhaul of taxation in this country that is fair to rich and the poor!

* A radical goverment shake up, where prime ministers can't promise their mates the job when they are finished

* benefits for unemployed? affordable homes? crime?

THE LIST GOES
ON

Kevin, London,

So Gordon Brown thinks we should be overjoyed that this embarrassing U-turn is going to be paid for by yet more borrowing. After 11 years of his gross mishandling of the economy the last think Britain needs is to increase borrowing. This arrogant and out-of-touch Government must go now!

Chris Bovey, Totnes, UK

With the price of oil nearly $130/barrel, and the price at the pumps over £1.10p/litre, the windfall tax on that should pay for this handout. It costs £15 more than last year to fill up and 2p/ltr more to come .

What is being taken by the right hand is being handed back by the left hand.

Guy Winter, London,

I am seventy-seven pounds a month worse off on my teacher's pension, i fail to see how this latest knee-jerk reaction will benefit me or the other low-paid workers. All it will do is make us worse off in the future.

susan vesey, dunsfold, surrey

What a complete and utter farce, the government hasnt even made up the whole loss suffered by the 'losers'! Cant it be paid for by cutting out some of the excessive waste in government?

Ian, Bristol,

The Country cannot tell the Government to listen and act. Then after they have heeded the advice. Then berate them for taking the action their critics said they should!

Well done for recognising that mistake and rectifying it!

Phil Bateman, Wolverhampton, UK

Is that because you're a bit of a misogynist, Arnold Ward?

Laura, Cambridge,

Leave the country now. Taxes must always rise from now on. No political party can solve the three problems of 5 million spongers on the state,unfunded public pension provision and universal free health care. If it is attempted they would lose any chance of winning an election. Catch 22.

colin stoy, london,

Let us all hope that the voters next week recognise this financial confidence trick for what it is and give the incompetent Mr. Brown and the Labour Party the drubbing he deserves.
Blair was bad; Brown is worse, but at least he doesn't pretend to be an international statesman just as well !!

adrian, Romsey, UK

How much will the higher rate of tax be affected by??

Typical of this conniving govt to give partial information, just wait for a clawback against high earners to pay for this after the bye elections.

Russ, Glasgow,

Where will the incompetence that is now very apparent from the handling of Northern Rock and the credit crunch to the Housing Minister's gaffe end? At this rate we will all end up paying a fortune one way or another for this gross incompetence. Can we afford to wait 2 years to the next election?

David, London,

C'mon my dear come this way. Oops did you fall, well I know your blind, but so am I.

Bob, Warrington, Cheshire

What also seems to be always missed is that some of the under £8000 earners/pensioners liable for tax at 10% did not use all the £2150 band and claimed the balance against saving interest already taxed at 20%.This has also been lost and increases the loses up to £215.Given £120 back I am down £95

barbara, north east,

Lets not forget that Gormless Gordon will have the use of the poor peoples money for six months!

dave, richmond,

What a grotesque scene that was in the the Commons with those screeching Labour MPs acclaiming the worst kind of pork barrel politics because they think their own skins will be saved. MPs from all parties have lost every bit of integrity, but Labour is scandalous in the pursuit of power retention.

Jonathan Spencer, London, UK

How can the government say high rate tax payers will be no worse or better off after these changes? The high rate threshold has been reduced by £600: 40% of £600 = £240, offset by the £120 at the basic rate means an extra £120 tax to pay. Most of the £2.7bn will be paid by the high rate taxpayers!!

Vik, Leicester, UK

So 17 million, who didn't lose anything, are given a £120 extra bonus. 4 million of the poorest are roughly back where they started but another 1.1 million aren't compensated at all.
Don't you just love Labour's quaint idea of justice?

Sisyphus, Cambridge, UK

Am I the only one who thinks that £10 a month is an astonishingly small kickback regardless of how much you earn? So the politicians and commentators have got something to be all excited about. Whoopee, I'll go and blow it on 2 pints tonight, and you can have half of it back in tax, Mr Brown.

Simon, Harpenden, Herts

SIMPLY BREATHTAKING DARLING BROWN borrow 2.7 billion for us and all are better off does no one in the treasury know how to do simple maths -

1.1 m are still payng more

600 at 40 p in the pound is more than 600 at 20 p in the pound
Labour MPs are happy -wait till CREWE

Paul, Worthing,

Small business owners all over the country will now look forward with excitement to having to implement TWO changes to their PAYE system this year.

Not only will all the tax codes of their staff have to change, the formulae for 20% and 40% rates calculations must be re-written too.

MikeS, York,

So where does this leave the Labour 1997 election manifesto "long term objective" of a starting rate 10p tax band?

What a fiasco.

Mike L, Chippenham, Wilts

This bribe 'em now then make 'em pay later solution to the 10p tax fiasco is a desperate though squalid attempt by the government to pacify by- election voters and labour MPs before the finance bill. Hopefully it will not fool the voters in Crewe and Nantwich by-election.

Simon Marshland, Bath, UK

A £120 is not really going to have much impact on any one life's over a year... What we really need is a complete overhaul of taxation in this country that is fair to rich and the poor.

Clive, Dartford, Kent

Anyone earning less than £15000 pa should be removed from the tax equation completely and those at the higher end should pay a little more because they can well afford to.

Ian Dickson, Brighton , UK

Peter Gyles hits the nail on the head.
No such thing as free money. Eventually the loan will have to be re-paid, incl interest, plus the costs of administration.
Clearly an election bribe.
But Brown is prepared to try to spend his way out of immediate trouble with someone else money.

Mike, Sydney,

Disaster looms large and nothing either party can do will save the nations finances. Raw materials inflation is rampaging away. processed steel is up 50% in three months, fertisiler costs are up 50%, oil will hit $200 a barrell in the next few months. We will have a big recession in 2009.

abharrisson, london,

What is Frank Field getting in return for his abject apology? A knighthood? He surely deserves an Oscar for his acting performance which would have beought tears to my eyes for its sincerity, except that I was being sick at the time.

Peter Simson, Menzingen, Switzerland

Why does this have to be funded by yet more borrowing? Scrap ID Cards, put a business brain in charge of the Olympics, tax the super rich and bring the troops home.

Kevin, Leeds,

Widow aged 62. Figures approximate.
Income 2006-2007 from State Pension and Company Widow's Benefit £7500. Income Tax £280.
Income after "cost of living" rises 2008-2009 £7, 833
Income Tax at new rate £525.

I understood that the cost of living rise was to help me pay for the rise in prices over the past year. Even without the Tax increase, food, Council Tax, Gas, Electricity and rent increases have more than wiped this out.
My Income Tax has been raised by £245. Brown and Darling propose to reduce this by £120 this year. I will still only actually receive £108 of my "cost of living" rise. My cost of living rise for the whole year was less than an MP's expenses for a month. My entire pension for the year was less than an MP pays to a relative to do non existant "work".

Beryl, Windsor, England

With the country already crippled by a huge national debt, thanks to Brown, he has instructed his underling Darling to carry on with the borrow-and-spend policy. Is it any wonder so many individuals have done exactly the same privately? Another two years of this will destroy this country

Paul, Coventry,

Surely the idea of removing the 10p tax band and lowering the 22p band to 20p was part of a "well thought out" strategy by Brown in his final budget. By not raising the tax band back to 22p and dishing out even more money by increasing the threshold he is blowing a bigger hole in the economy....

David Stapley, Sidcup, Kent

Difficult for me to understand why he has to borrow even more from future generations of TAXPAYERS.

Why not scarp or wind down some of the more stupid projects being excessively funded like ID cards et al ?

cap, lincoln, uk

Come on people of Crewe, I urge you to vote against labour in numbers so great that this labour rabble will throw even MORE money at us. If we show them as much contempt as they have shown their core support, they may even compensate all the losers fully, because they haven't yet!

Ken Hall, Barrow in Furness, UK

What is absolutely astonishing about all this, is that Brown and Darling are doing this to appease their own party and protect their own jobs. Helping those in need of financial assistance seems to be entirely incidental. The sooner these imbeciles are stopped from plundering the country, the better

Philip, Bath,

What a mess. 20% of those who lost out in the 10p tax fiasco have not been fully compensated. Surely the point of this U-Turn was to put right the mistake Gordon made in the first place. Again, this government put self preservation ahead of DOING THE RIGHT THING.

Glen, Windlesham, Surrey

£60 in September and £10 per month for another 6 months ... hang on a minute ... does this mean new coding notices for everyone? Each of these months? Sent out to employer and employee presumably? How much is THAT going to cost!!!

Alex West, Warwickshire,

Peterj, Malvern. The public sector cannot just cut back on its project portfolio, at least not with out primary legislation, as most of the services are provided for by legislation.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

We were £564 billion in the red before then he gave £50 billion to northern rock, then £100billion to the banks. Now £270 billion to keep himself in a job. No one is mentioning the fact that when they came in they were left with a surplus of £26.1 billion by the Tories.

peter reddington, leeds, UK

This gets messier and messier everyday. The PM , the Cancellor and the rest of the Cabinet should go on holiday and never some back. Everything they do, every measure they take seems to be worse than the previous one. I feel as if I'm watching a horror film.

matilde, London,

If it turns out the personal tax allowance reverts back in April 2009
by 400 pounds.
Labour will have as big a revolt as the 10p fiasco.

A 600 pound increase for 2.7 Billion.
How much could we have had for the 25 Billion plus Northen Rock disaster?.

Puts me out of taxation range, so I'm happy!!

Sean Hamerton, York,

Why abolish it in the first place? If it works don't fix it. He abolished it on the basis of not having enough money and then spends more money to fix the mess?!? Incompetence at it's best and banana republicism to top it off. Hand out the money to win the votes! Shame on you Mr Brown!

John Morgan, Old Stratford, United Kingdom

Caroline Flint should have been carrying a briefcase instead of a handbag with her papers carried in her other hand.

Personally I would have difficulty taking anyone seriously who arrives at meeting with a handbag.

Arnold Ward, Weybridge, Surrey, UK

This piece suggests he is dipping into his own pocket. In the same way that they dole out foreign aid ("the Prime Minister has given...") as though from their own bank accounts, Ministers portray this as an act of charity. In fact they have strained British patiencel to breaking point.

Jean Bull, Ludlow, UK

Why not fund the change by reducing public overhead. If my company has lower than expected financial returns it cuts back, stops recruiting, reviews its project portfolio and reduces head count if necessary.
It's about time the public sector was drastically pruned.

peterj, Malvern, UK

It was a mess, it still is a mess. I still get less as the Countries debt just rises and rises. Calamity Brown strikes again.

Roger, Surrey,

All those who have voted Labour since 1997 hold up your hands. The rest of us wish to say "told you so".

Andrew Fanner, Cowplain, UK

The Band Aid Boys are at it again, stick a plaster on it and it will get better.

R.F.Ruth, Brentwood, UK

I saw a program on Africa .People stood outside poling stations offering bribes to win votes.
How that was condemned.
Well, what is the difference Darling? At least they used their own money instead of you using MINE...

By the way, the 2.7billion is being borrowed and will have to be repaid. Just what is the interest on that amount of money?

David, Birmingham, England

He hasn't paid anything. The rest of us have! As a business owner, he will be back for more from me later. Job creation by the small business sector will drop so. He will increase regulation to hire more bureaucrats to massage the employment figures. Haste ye back Gordon-over the border!

lee, uk, uk

Who are we kidding, its not just the 10p tax debacle that that putting pressure on us all! Falling house prices, rising grocery, fuel bills etc. I'm not sure any u-turn will save Mr Brown now.

Dale Towers, Northampton, UK

These figures are nothing compared to the Vehicle Excise Duty rises he has in store for hundreds of thousands of us starting next year.

jeff, durham,

Despite this sudden Labour bribery, my daughter, (a 25 year old nursery nurse on low pay), can't find out if the age related aspect of the 'old' scheme still pertains. As the worst kind of sick joke she was about to be taxed hundreds of pounds a year MORE just because of her age. Is this still so?

Andrew Waldron, Bournemouth, UK

The old Rover Trick as used in two general elections - and the Pensioner Bung used once. Make an exploding offer vaslid for one election only with post-election clawback

TomTom, Leeds, England

Amazing.

So some of us get back our money that he took incompetently - only some mind - and thousands who had benefited slightly already are now to benefit even more - and he dresses this up as a compensation for the increase in their petrol and food prices.

CS, Norwich, UK

Would it not have been easier to have reversed those who had been moved from 10p to 20p back to the 10p rate of tax, refunded what they had paid extra to them? Plus a bit of interest on their money, may have also helped.

margie , victoria, australia

Is this the biggest political bribe in this country's history? £36500 per voter in Crewe...

John H Miller, Bromley,

this is the kind of article you have to read three times to prove you're not going mad and its not a hoax. They are getting much more prevalent of late...

james, london, uk

Since when did Gordon Brown contribute 2.7 billion to do anything? Warren Buffet and Bill Gates might be able to but GB just isn't in the same league. He's just an unelected prime minister.

Try: "Every man, woman and child in Britain pays 45 pouns to end 10p tax crisis" instead of the current title

Peter Gyles, UK, UK

More shady dealings for political ends!
What is £2.7billion compared to the £540 squandered each and every year without any accountability by feckless Ministers? Nothing! Except we all know who will pay at the end of the day!

Mike O' Connor, Plymouth, uk

I just want to point out, Gordon Brown is not giving me or anybody else £120 . He's just going to TAKE £120 less and borrow £2.7billion more on our behalf.

Robert Welstead, Twickenham, Uk

Surely a more directed solution was required here. To help the real 'losers' £0.7M, to help the middle income 'low' earners who didn't lose out with the abolition of the 10p rate, £2M. I am/was a 'loser' and realise the loss they are giving back to me, they are also donating to many 'non-losers'

Marion Brockie, Peebles, Scotland

I have a small pension less than £***** a year and I am still more than £300 worse off. His measures have only saved me £30-£35 a year.
Next year it will be worse to pay all of the amount borrowed to save me £30. It would have been better to give all pensioners between 60 and 65 an extra £120.

MC, Lanchester, Durham

Astonishing how (if you know about PAYE) such a simple solution to the problem could take 6 weeks to think through,it really shows the complete lack of understanding of how PAYE works by the new chancellor and his ministers. God help the nation if we really had to sort out something 'complicated'.

A Jones, UK, UK