The Telegraph reports that the Tory leadership has been discussing an "elegant retreat" from its policy of matching Labour on spending: "The Tory leader, under mounting internal pressure to stretch his party’s lead over Labour, has conceded that it could be impossible to deliver tax cuts if he sticks to Gordon Brown’s commitments." The newspaper reports the overwhelming opposition of party activists to the pledge, as recorded by this website.
If true the news would be a rapid victory for ConservativeHome’s campaign for a more flexible approach to public spending. We’ve not campaigned for an abandonment of the pledge to match Labour’s spending until 2010/11 – only for the pledge not to be renewed.
There are three central weaknesses to the pledge:
4pm: Red Box reminds us of what Cameron and Osborne have said about the spending pledge.