Monday, October 02, 2006

Tax, the great election loser

Britain is a low tax economy but lots of people don’t believe it. Tax has always been a Great British Obsession. Since losing the 1992 election, after the Tories successfully played the ‘beware of increased tax’ card, Labour has been keen not to frighten off voters with Dennis Healey like promises to ‘tax the rich until the pips squeak’ (1974 Labour Party Conference).

But perhaps the tables have turned. Maybe the electorate is becoming wiser, the average IQ in Britain is alleged to be rising. At last the Great British Public has perhaps realised that you can’t get something for nothing; that decent public services have to be paid for.

David Cameron certainly thinks so. He’s risking the wrath of many of his party’s members by refusing to commit to lower taxes. The Independent today reports the results of a survey that suggests they don’t like it: "Although Mr Cameron remains popular with his party's members, they reject his stance on tax cuts ... ". If Labour gets back and maintains a lead in the opinion polls will the boy wonder be able to stick to his guns or will he be forced to do a William Hague and drop all his liberal stuff when the going gets rough?

2 Comments:

At 19:17, Blogger Praguetory said...

Our money is being burnt by Labour with a mixture of incompetence, poor decision-making and worse. I am slightly more interested in hearing about spending cuts than tax cuts. Tax cuts will come in time.

 
At 20:32, Blogger Hughes Views said...

Yes it's a scandal isn't it? At our local hospital they've wasted cash on new equipment and additional nurses. What was wrong with an eighteen month wait?

They've frittered money away on more police and extra dentists. At my children's school they've even mended the leaking roofs, bought some computers and employed some teaching assistants. Where will it all end?

 

Post a Comment

<< Home