Osborne and tax cuts

“Top Conservative despairs of Cameron growth plan,” says The Times’ front page today. While The Daily Telegraph’s reads: “No tax cuts before the next election, says Osborne”. The two stories are related. British economic growth is evaporating, and more than a few Tory MPs are worried that the Chancellor doesn’t have a coherent growth strategy and that he doesn’t seem to care. Osborne’s cheery interview with Robert Winnett and Ben Brogan will do nothing to allay such fears. He repeats his position on tax cuts: that, while desirable, they are likedessert once the nation has eaten its main course of cuts and tax rises. He appears to rule out using tax cuts as a tool to stimulate growth.

I suspect that tax and growth will be a theme of this coming Tory conference, so Osborne’s position is worth exploring in a little more detail. He tells the Telegraph: “I’m a fiscal conservative with a small ‘c’ who believes in lower taxes, but who believes in paying for lower taxes.