Cutting logic

The hint of tax cuts made by Gordon Brown this week is a piece of political audacity which could only be matched were the Conservatives suddenly to commit themselves to the common ownership of the means of production. This is a Prime Minister who for years has sought to beat down the opposition by claiming that the meanest of tax cuts would result in havoc in schools and hospitals; who suddenly, facing a budget deficit of at least £100 billion this year, has decided that, after all, there is some money in the kitty to reduce the tax burden.