It's Not Tax Cuts, It's Labour's Client State the Tories Should be Worried About

Francis Maude has given an interview to the Telegraph this morning in which he makes some very important points, especially on the Tories' preparedness for government. However, the top line of the interview is again on tax cuts. This is unfortunate, and it was also needless. In the interview Francis says...

"There are those who think that if you commit to massive tax cuts then people will automatically vote for us, but people are not impressed these days with politicians promising tax cuts that look like us serving our electoral self interest by appealing to their self interest."

I can't think of anyone who wants the Tories to commit to "massive" tax cuts. I certainly don't. It would indeed be madness in the current economic climate. What people do want to know is that David Cameron and his team are philosophical tax cutters, a point which Francis does indeed make. It's not in the interview but this appears in the front page news story...

He stresses that the desire to cut taxes is "deep in our blood"...

Good. Some of us had been wondering. Let me say it again. No one expects up front tax cuts. What we do expect to know is that the Party is still committed to the principle of the lowest rate of taxation possible.

The debate now needs to be shifted onto the unsustainable levels of public spending. This is not a subject on which the Conservatives need to be defensive. The 1979 election was won in part because people realised the government was spending more than it could afford, and Margaret Thatcher promised to do something about it. People are beginning to realise the extent to which government spending has grown and they feel uncomfortable with it. A 'client state' has grown which must be eliminated. Simon Heffer takes the view that the members of this 'client state' are never going to vote Tory in a month of Sundays so it doesn't matter if the Tories upset them. The trouble is, that this 'client state' has grown so large that in marginal Labour seats they do indeed matter. But even those who have benefited from it realise that it is not sustainable in the long term. I think this is the Tories' main challenge - to develop a radical, coherent and marketable policy to deal with Labour's 'client state'.

Donal Blaney has an altogether more, ahem, robust view on Mr Maude's interview. Sits on the fence, does Donal. :)

An Achieveable Tax Cut?

Donal Blaney proposes HERE that David Cameron should indeed offer a tax cut. He suggests that lifting the income tax allowance to £10,000 would be a tax cut which everyone could support. He writes...

Taxes can be cut in such a way as to tie into David Cameron's desire to show the Tories are being pro-family and compassionate. If the nil rate band were to be raised to, say, £10,000 each and every taxpayer would benefit - but the greatest benefit would be felt by the lowest paid. It would therefore be socially just as well as electorally popular. It would also be philosophically the right thing to do.

I know there's a number of very clever tax people who read this blog. Anyone care to enlighten us as to how much that would cost to achieve?