Cameron’s public caution masks the party’s private preparations

David Cameron doesn’t give much away in his interview with the Telegraph. He again commits the Conservatives to making cuts and implies that taxes will have to be raised. But there are no specifics given. On the one hand, the lack of detail is frustrating—surely the party would have more of a mandate in government if it was more explicit now about what it was planning to do? Some straight talk would also put to bed the idea that the Cameroons are nothing more than marketing men. But on the other hand, one can appreciate that any specific pledge would hand Labour an issue to campaign on.

In private, though, the Tories are beginning to get to grips with what they will need to do. Peter Oborne reports in the Mail today that George Osborne has asked the Treasury to find cuts of almost thirty percent in departmental budgets that could be implemented straight away.