The issue focused on the government's tax cut for the rich, which it said will lead to an increase in the government's tax take.

"The government is going to put an extra tax on the public, and that is not the way to go about it," said government spokesman David Willetts.

"The government is going to help the public to get a tax cut, and I don't think that is a good way to do it."

The government's tax cut is one