It has been implied recently that some Conservative MPs are calling for the Party to promise tax cuts. For my part, I don’t know any who are.
We are told that the notion that simply promising tax-cuts will help us swiftly win an election is mistaken. As a well-known fan of tax-cuts, it occurred to me that the notion being attacked might be thought by many people to lurk somewhere in MPs’ minds.
But nobody in the Party is asking for tax-cuts now. All of us can see - especially given the current economic climate - that it would be foolish to pin ourselves down to a figure at this stage. After all, it is still probably 2 years till the next General Election.
It seems bizarre to me to suggest, as some have done, that voters would somehow disapprove of us promoting their self-interest. How about promoting their need to make ends meet? There is surely a moral case to be made for lower taxes. The assumption that the case for them can only be made on ‘selfish’ grounds, while certainly shared by many socialists, is one that we Conservatives have a duty to challenge and defeat.
Not to do so is both a dereliction of that duty and a surrender to the Labour world-view. It would force us to fight on the Government’s terms while disillusioning many of those who are desperate for relief from a heavy tax burden.
But, I repeat, I am not saying we can commit ourselves to a figure on tax cuts now - or, indeed, that we can promise to cut tax the moment we come in.
So there is no real dispute in the Party about this, as far as I can see.
And of course I strongly support the view that we should make it a priority to tackle waste in the public sector, to give taxpayers better value for money.
I’m with you Mr Leigh. And it has the advantage of not giving Brown and his spinning hordes any chance to say the Tories will cut the public services.
Well yes …ish but actually tax cuts may well become unavoidable if the economy lurches into recession and you cannot accept the fake if politically adroit line about indebtedness , for all that I understand the realpolitik. There is an obvious immorality of steep marginal rates at low levels and the positive harm of redistribution does is a good case but a counter intuitive one . I’m not sure you have especially helped here. There is equally an obvious immorality and in state theft and a Liberal point about choices and power coalescing with the state but above all there is an immorality in perpetuating poverty so as to enforce equality.
None of this is to say that the squeezed lower middleclass do not need relief badly . The post budget swing was due to one thing .£500 extra NI and about £350 for the car….there goes your holiday. That is the sort of budget real working families run .
overall mark
Could do better but heart in the right place
But we must remind the electorate from time to time that the conservatives believe strongly in cutting taxes, when are in a position to do so.
As generally happens after a long period of Labour government, we have other things to do as a first priority: cut some of the quangos and consultancies to reduce wastage, reduce red tape, so that business, schools, hospitals, police etc can get on with their jobs properly and reduce the national debt a bit to reduce interest payments.
Also, early on, we should look to simplify taxation and benefits, concentrating on the lowest earners.