The great Tory tax and spend battle: seconds out…

In the wake of Cameron’s decision to drop his pledge to match Labour spending, Fraser Nelson and Daniel Fin kelstein of the Times trade rhetorical blows over the issue that is gripping and troubling the Conservative party as it adjusts to the transformed economic context

Dear Fraser,

I feel we really need to have a word about tax. It was something you said that set me off. Something you used to underpin your argument that the Tories need to start announcing tax cuts. Could I detain you for a moment, and ask for an explanation?

Perhaps you remember your words. ‘The Tories were daft to focus so much on borrowing — it’s inevitable in a recession. The question is whether you use the deficit to spend or relieve taxes.’ Now I really couldn’t make head nor tail of this.

You see, in a recession, government revenue from tax receipts goes down and spending on benefits goes up.