Brown Accused of 'Dithering' over 10p Tax Rate

Gordon Brown was accused of "dithering" after appearing to make a U-turn on the abolition of the 10p tax rate.

The prime minister announced that pensioners, young people and those on low incomes who lost out in the abolition of the 10p rate would be entitled to receive compensation.

The change of tack follows a growing rebellion from the backbenchers that almost saw the resignation of a junior minister last week.

Tory leader David Cameron accused him of "weakness, dithering and indecision" over the apparent U-turn.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said that Brown was "increasingly pointless".

The accusations came in prime minister's questions after chancellor Alistair Darling announced that the compensation package would be available in Autumn and be back-dated to April.

Labour's Frank Field responded by withdrawing his amendment backed by 46 Labour MPs calling for compensation.

"We may, I hope, be marking phase two of Gordon Brown's premiership," he told the BBC, one where he would be "big enough" to admit if something had unintentionally gone wrong.