Treasury chief slams Tories' tax plans

Stephen Timms, treasury chief secretary

The government’s treasury chief secretary Stephen Timms has latched on to
comments made by George Osborne, the Tory shadow chancellor, saying they offered
the ‘worst of all words’.

His vitriolic attack came following a speech by Osborne in Manchester during
which he made it clear the Conservative Party would not campaign for a return to
power based on promises of tax cuts.

Osborne said the state of the public finances meant up-front promises of tax
cuts were ‘unlikely’, the BBC reported.

In response, Timms said: ‘First he (Osborne) proposed a flat tax. Then he
promised a combination of lower taxes and lower spending.

‘Now he is promising lower spending on public services but no reduction in
taxes, which is the worst of all worlds, and pledging to cut tax credits, which
would make up to six million families worse off.’

He went on to say: ‘The Tories will never gain trust of the British people if
they continue to change their economic policy from one day to the next.’