Even with the sharp political mind of Peter Mandelson on his team, it is possible that Gordon Brown failed to foresee one political consequence of his scheme to borrow and spend his way out of the recession. How can the government complain about tax cuts proposed by the opposition when the government has itself abandoned all pretence to fiscal rectitude? A few months ago, ministers would have responded swiftly and savagely to David Cameron’s promise to free all basic-rate taxpayers from paying tax on their savings income. The words ‘reckless’ and ‘irresponsible’ would have tripped off their tongues like sparks from a fire. Thanks to this handout to the rich, they would have added, the sick would go unhealed and children would go uneducated.
Apart from a token objection from Yvette Cooper there has been no attempt by the government to attack Cameron’s proposed tax cut — in spite of one perfectly reasonable objection. Other than saying he would restrict all government spending, save for health, schools, defence and international development, David Cameron has not been explicit about what government commitments would get the chop to pay the £5 billion cost of abolishing tax on savings income for 20 million people.
We would sooner the Tories did spell out exactly where their tax cuts were going to come from. And far from ring-fencing healthcare from cuts, Cameron should take pride in taking the axe to one aspect of NHS spending: the farcical £12 billion IT system ‘Connecting for Health’, which is running four years late and has already been abandoned in one of the few hospitals where it has been introduced. Ditching this grandiose IT project would alone pay for a tax cut on savings income.
Nevertheless, we applaud David Cameron for his change in direction, which has put clear water between the economic policies of the two main parties and presented a clear battleground for the next election.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in