The Conservatives will end annual treasury deficits and begin to reduce the United Kingdom's £1.4 trillion debt pile within five years, chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has said.
Promising a new era of financial responsibility, Mr Osborne told Conservative delegates gathered in Manchester that the UK will never "again be left so vulnerable to boom and bust". The promise is politically significant, since the Conservatives believe they have economic credibility with the public compared with the Labour Party.
Decrying Labour leader Ed Miliband’s pledge last week to freeze energy prices, the chancellor warned: “People know the difference between a quick-fix con and a credible economic argument.” However, he was not immune to making his own pledge – though one that is more in the control of politicians – declaring that fuel duties would be frozen until after the 2015 election.
In an occasionally boastful mood, backed by improving economic growth figures, Mr Osborne said he has been asked at every party conference since the election if his strategy is working. “They’re not asking that question now,” he declared, insisting that the UK “is turning a corner”.
Mr Osborne offered just a hint that tax cuts could come in the next parliament, saying that everyone would “share in the rewards”.
Tax allowances
Each of the parties has had its offering to tempt voters: the Liberal Democrats promised that greater numbers of lower-paid would face no income tax, while Labour promised action on energy prices. Meanwhile, Mr Osborne finally delivered on a pledge to give tax allowances to married couples, along with plans to order welfare claimants to do training, or useful community work.
Mocking Mr Miliband, the chancellor said the Labour leader's brother, David, had left the House of Commons, left British politics and quit Britain for life in New York. "David and Ed Miliband: the greatest sibling rivalry since the Bible. Cain and not very Abel," he said, to cheers from delegates.
Drawing on the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who was honoured by Conservatives when the conference began on Sunday, Mr Osborne said she would be remembered most “for her optimism”. “She refused to accept that Britain was in terminal decline. She believed Britain had a great future, that British people could lead better and more prosperous lives. So do we,” he said.
Despite the optimistic notes struck publicly, many Conservatives are deeply worried about the impact the UK Independence Party could have on the party’s fortunes in the 2015 election.
In 2010, Ukip, with just 3 per cent of the vote, stopped the Conservatives winning approximately 20 seats and could hurt it much more in the general election to come, warned Conservative MP Bill Cash.
'Non-aggression pact'
Calling upon Ukip to have a "non-aggression pact" with the Conservatives in 2015, he said both had the same ambitions but only the Tories could win enough Commons seats.
Ukip’s strategy should be “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”, because otherwise they will end up “defeating our own people” and putting Labour into power, he told a meeting of the Bruges Group.
The Bruges Group meeting, held outside the security zone that surrounds the Conservative conference, was particularly well attended because it had invited Ukip leader Nigel Farage. Unhappy about the invitation, the Conservatives removed a reference to the meeting on the conference programme – an action that infuriated Mr Cash and other Conservative members.
However, Mr Farage rejected Mr Cash’s plea for an electoral pact with the Conservatives, although he said he would not rule out local deals between Ukip and the Conservatives.
