This morning, in a speech in Birmingham, David Cameron will give voice
to concerns over the levels of taxation, which will resonate around the
country. But more important than that, for the first time he will
signal that he believes government spending and borrowing are out of
control. He will say...
"We have reached the acceptable limits of taxation and borrowing. With the rising cost of living, taxpayers can't take any more pain, and the economy can't take any more pain without losing jobs to lower tax competitors ... We need to start living within our means."
He talks about "good housekeeping" and Britain needing a government which is "careful, not casual with public money". He doesn't actually abandon George Osborne's pledge to match Labour spending for two years, but he might just as well have done. He describes a decade of "reckless" spending, waste and inefficiency.
It will be interesting to see the reaction to this speech as I think it signals the start of a major shift of emphasis to an agenda concentrating on the cost of living and the size of the State.
"We have reached the acceptable limits of taxation and borrowing. With the rising cost of living, taxpayers can't take any more pain, and the economy can't take any more pain without losing jobs to lower tax competitors ... We need to start living within our means."
He talks about "good housekeeping" and Britain needing a government which is "careful, not casual with public money". He doesn't actually abandon George Osborne's pledge to match Labour spending for two years, but he might just as well have done. He describes a decade of "reckless" spending, waste and inefficiency.
It will be interesting to see the reaction to this speech as I think it signals the start of a major shift of emphasis to an agenda concentrating on the cost of living and the size of the State.
Whilst it is good to see that the Conservative leader is highlighting the overspending and borrowing of this Government, one cannot help but think that he is only tinkering around the edges in order to catch more votes whilst the Crewe and Nantwich by-election is underway.
It is relevant that he does not abandon George Osborne's pledge to match Labour spending for two years, a pledge still very much firmly in place, even though it is abundantly clear that the acceptable limits of taxation, spending and borrowing have not just been reached but were surpassed long ago.
I can only see this as being duplicity and more of the same old, same old, from the Conservative leadership with no real change for the hard pressed taxpayer.
The Libertarian Party have undertaken to scrap income tax altogether in a well costed manifesto pledge, combined with a massive reduction in State spending, something that the Conservative party could do if it wanted to, but as is very clear by his speech today, Cameron really doesn't want to.
The Conservative Party is a party of big government, as we have seen from Osborne's pledge, so the taxpayers of the UK will never be any better served by the Conservatives than they are by NuLabour.
There IS another way!
Your Life, Your Country, Your Choice.
