Speaking on this morning's Today programme (listen again here) George Osborne said that he could not promise to reverse Labour's new 50p rate of taxation for Britain's higher earners and wealth creators.
He said that his first priority was to stop Labour's intended increase in tax on lower earners. He used the Blairite words, 'we want to protect the many, not the few' to explain his decision.
If the Conservatives are going to keep the 50p band then it will be one of Gordon Brown's final ideological victories. He has massively expanded the reach of the state, entrenched dependency and levied over a hundred increased stealth taxes. Now he has delivered a return to high rates of income tax – in direct breach of Labour's 2005 manifesto.
At some point George Osborne will have to start making unpopular decisions. Perhaps they will all begin after polling day. Perhaps the political caution will persist after polling day. I no longer know. I don't know if the Shadow Chancellor's caution is a very understandable pre-election tactic or if it is in his DNA.
The evidence points two ways:
At some point George Osborne will have to make unpopular decisions on public sector pay and on the size of the state. He may also have to make unpopular defences of wealth creators and explain why Britain needs them. I believe that the British people are ready to be told the truth. I'd like us to have a mandate for what we do in government and to start telling voters now – in broad terms – how we will start to reduce debt. Otherwise I fear our actions in government will always be just enough to keep things ticking over – managing decline again – but never quite enough to fundamentally put Britain back on course.
I'll give the final word to Matthew Parris who writes this for today's Times:
David Cameron has a big speech to give on Sunday at the Tory Spring Forum in Cheltenham. Perhaps Mr Parris could write it for him?
Tim Montgomerie