David Cameron's budget announcement

David Cameron's Budget reply contained an interesting political point. The Tory leadership has obviously decided how to deal with the spending settlement - embrace it.

Cameron derided Brown as having come round to the idea of sharing the proceeds of growth. This was framed as a taunt, and made rather a good joke. It was, in fact, the announcement of a profoundly important political decision.

In the last two elections the central feature of the Tory manifesto was a spending path lower than Labour's. Cameron has now signalled as clearly as possible that this will not figure in the next election.

Instead the Tories will treat the new Brown figures as Tory figures, offer to match them and then make lower taxes a medium term aspiration.

Comments

[Gabriel]

So people who believe in lower public spending (we like to use the sobriquet 'conservative') should vote for Cameron's party why exactly?

Ah yes, because if we vote for a party that reflects our views then we're just a bunch of 'fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists basically'. Open and shut case.