…as Tories plan an emergency budget for 2010
CONSERVATIVE shadow chancellor George Osborne yesterday revealed he would call an emergency budget within weeks of a Tory victory.
The Conservatives, who are widely tipped to gain power at the next election, have promised cuts in public spending, and are thought to be planning £30bn of defence cuts.
Osborne also said he would instigate a programme of reform that would be “no less radical than the one that restored the UK’s economic competitiveness in the 1980s and 1990”.
He argued that keeping interest rates down would be the main focus of economic policy and Conservative reform “will require fundamental change across the whole spectrum of economic policy, including taxation, infrastructure, skills, housing and financial regulation”.
His key points included lowering corporation tax rates and developing a simpler tax system, radical education and welfare reform and more private investment in infrastructure and long-term assets such as high speed rail and smart energy networks.
Osborne said the party would ensure interest rate cuts were passed on to bank customers. He also said that bank profits should be used to boost capital reserves – not for shareholder payouts or bonuses.