Today Iain Dale has written:
I am pushed to remember any party in this country which has EVER promised up front tax cuts in its manifesto. If I am right, it seems this spat is over nothing. Margaret Thatcher certainly promised lower taxes in 1979 but didn’t specify what they would be or how she would achieve them.
This is a common comment from Conservatives, with the general line being: ‘hey, don’t expect us to be too specific on tax, vague aspirations are ok, because you know even Mrs Thatcher didn’t promise specific tax cuts’.
Francis Maude has previously made a more extreme version of this claim:
You will look in vain through three Thatcher manifestos for any commitment to cut taxes.
But what did the 1979 Conservative manifesto really say?
We shall cut income tax at all levels.
Ooops. If that isn’t an up front promise to cut taxes, I’m not quite sure what it is?
P.S. Do you think Conservatives would say it is ok for any other party to argue that something is a key policy area for it, but it’s ok to keep secret what the plans are? Imagine the outrage from Iain & co if, say, Nick Clegg said, “Introducing green taxes is really important, but I’m not going to tell you what or when or how much. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
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4 Comments
I think the point on the 1979 manifesto was that she didn’t promise to cut taxes over all, only income taxes (which was a very good thing at the time, and wouldn’t go amiss now).
Why are tax cuts such a bad thing anyway? Less money to the government means it does less, perfectly in line with liberal thinking.
It also leaves more money in the pockets of individuals, again, very liberal.
“I think the point on the 1979 manifesto was that she didn’t promise to cut taxes over all” – but that’s not what either Iain Dale or Francis Maude said.
The point – or at least my point 🙂 – is that the Tories are in rather a habit of trying to re-write what their 1979 manifesto actually said in order to excuse their current stance.
Tristan makes my point for me.
Actually, Iain, Tristan’s point disproves yours!
You said on your blog that Mrs T promised lower taxes overall, but didn’t specify what they’d be.
Tristan says she promised lower income tax, but not lower taxes overall.
Tristan’s point is a good one. But it’s not yours.