Monday, 29 September 2008

The rabbit is out of the hat

The only surprise then from George Osbourne is the pledge to freeze council tax levels for the next two years.

Yet the rabbit out of the hat over council may well get a reaction similar to the one on inheritance tax which was the turning opint for the conference last year and again it is aimed at the middle England.

The freeze will be funded by cutting spending on government consultants and advertising and is estimated that it could save a typical Band D owner around £210.
Labour sources are saying that the saving could cost up to £2bn

Apart from that very little unexpected in the speech.The usual stuff aboiut Gordon Brown leaving the cupboard bare and a vague commitment to reducing taxes over the life of a Tory Government.

Countering the Brown aspersions that he was too inexperienced,he claimed that he had had enough experience of the Brown economics.

As for the plan for the economic recovery,the party proposes budgetary targets which will balance the commitments of spending against the borrowing levels.The Independent Office for Budget Responsibility will monitor and produce borrowing forecasts and will suggest whether taxes should rise or spending plans be curbed to give a future Tory government the chance of meeting its medium-term goals.

Some instant reaction-Andrew Porter at the Telegraph

First, he struck the right tone for the times. Second, he nailed the lie that he is a friend of greedy bankers. And third, he had a policy that will grab headlines


James Forsyth

This was new, serious George. In a soberly-delivered speech, Osborne went a long way to reassuring voters that he is ready to be Chancellor. He stressed financial and fiscal responsibility and deftly threaded the political needle on criticising the excesses of the City without committing to more regulation. Osborne was so keen to demonstrate his seriousness that he kept his trademark smirk under wraps. He even bit his lip during one bout of applause in a seeming attempt to stop it from breaking through.

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