Sloganeering | 28 October 2008

Danny Finkelstein argues that I am not “precise” when I say that the Tories have been equating tax cuts to instability – and, as ever, he’s right.  This is, happily, a historical argument as the Cameron project has evolved substantially since the first weeks when this “stability before tax cuts” slogan was implied. One does not hear it now, nor does one hear “sharing the proceeds of growth”. But to plot the right course for future, the mistakes of the past need to be identified. I believe “stability before tax cuts” to be one of those mistakes, and here’s why.
 
Political slogans are designed have two meanings: what they precisely mean, and what they practically convey. The latter is the more important. The Tory slogan “stability before tax cuts” clearly implies a tension between the two. Otherwise, why would one have to choose? I remember at the time discussing this with baffled senior Tories, who could not work out what on earth Osborne meant.