Tories and Taxes

Cameron and Osborne have finally managed to come up with something that they plan to do with the Tory party. Or rather, something they are not going to do with the Conservative party. They are not going to pledge to reduce taxes prior to the next election. The Times reports Osborne as saying:

“Let’s get some things absolutely clear: economic stability will come before tax cuts. If it comes to a choice between the stability of the economy, people’s interest rates and mortgage rates, and cutting taxes, then we will choose economic stability. That’s the first thing people need to know about us.”

Hmm, well, I would argue that the first thing that people need to know about the Tories under Cameron is what they actually stand for. Other than winning elections. But that is merely a petulant aside. There is a lot of validity in what Osborne is saying, but also a lot that illustrates my increasing frustration with the Conservatives at the moment. Crucially, Osborne is saying what he won't do. He isn't illustrating what he will do in government.

Let me confess a bias at this point. I think the Conservative Party should be offering tax cuts - for two reasons. First of all, on a purely mercenary level, it is something that will help win the next election. The figures quoted in The Times article indicate that 55% of voters in a poll wanted tax cuts from the Tories.

But there is a deeper, and more fundamentally ideological reason, for the Conservatives to offer tax cuts. I don't favour tax cuts for tax cuts sake, but instead see them as a way in which the government can reduce their impact on our lives. Taxes are a essential to our society, but are not a right of the government. I strongly feel that New Labour regards spending our taxes - our money - as their right, and if there is a shortfall, then it is their right to takes more money from us. This is restricting our freedom, as the government is not allowing us to decide how to spend a substantial section of our income. The Conservative party should - must - pledge to reverse this thinking and this culture in government. Sure, a future Conservative administration will still have to take taxes from us, hell, may even have to raise taxes. But let us assert a fundamental philosophy here - it is our money that we allow the government to spend, and the government - as our elected representatives - should be looking to spend as little as possible of that money whilst maintaining the core functions of the state.

The article also states:

"We won't fall into the same old election trap, says George Osborne."

This is what is really at the heart of Osborne's statement. It is all about electioneering, which is a shame, because he is getting it wrong. Yes, making direct promises to cut taxes has not helped the Tories recently, and people do not want to think that their health and education systems are going to suffer to fund electoral bribes. But Osborne's comment is simply a knee jerk reaction, and is not anymore sensible than pledging to slash taxes on day one in Number 11, Downing Street.

People don't want to hear about taxes cuts coming from reduced spending. However, people do have an issue with the government wasting tax money. So let's restate the Conservative proposal for tax cuts in popular but sensible language.

The next Conservative Government will work from day one to reduce government wastage. That money will then be used to reduce taxes. The Conservative Party cannot offer definite figures until it gets into power and starts assessing the levels of wastage. But if there is a million pounds of government wastage, then the government will reduce taxes by one million.

It will be interesting to see how Cameron etc get on the conference, and to have flagged the highly contentious issue of taxes just before the party conference may prove to be a strategic error. But I think the greater error will be missing the chance to set some clear blue water between Labour and the Conservatives and start attacking Labour for being the party that wants to waste the electorate's taxes, with the Tories wanting to return any money being wasted.