A few things that bug me about this whole tax-cutting debate…
1) Even Lord Forsyth’s suggestion of £21 billion worth of cuts is a tiny sum when you remember Brown will this year spend £553bn of our money – rising to £682 billion in 2011/12. Any Tory cut must be put in this context, or the sums just don’t mean anything.
2) And let’s not forget that from now until April 2012, Brown intends to raise tax by an average £32 billion a year, according to Treasury figures. Would it be so bad if the Tories put a stop to that? Or slowed it down a little? If even Redwood is talking about cutting just £14bn in regulation costs (not tax) then it’s game, set and match to Brown. A high-spending big-government consensus has effectively been reached.
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