A cutting debate

Yesterday, Matthew agreed with Daniel Finkelstein that the Tories should hold back a little – and spend more time reassuring the electorate – before cutting taxes wholesale.  As he put it:

“As tiresome as it may sometimes be, the essence of modernisation always boils down to reassurance of one kind of another: and those who think that the core Cameroon project of reassuring the voters is complete really are living in cloud cuckoo-land. I very much hope that Chancellor Osborne has the scope to cut the tax burden. He certainly has the inclination. But there is no surer way of preventing him from ever getting that chance than the party, in 2008, suddenly ripping up its prudential position and saying: ‘Actually, on reflection, let’s go back to what we did in 2001 and 2005 – only this time with feeling!’  We have seen that particular disaster movie twice before, and we know how it ends.