Articles
The 15p Chancellor? How Osborne could outflank Labour on tax
Date: 11. July 2011 / Category: Government
Gavin Kelly
fter a year in power, in the aftermath of a traumatic recession and with unemployment still riding high, the Chancellor needs not only to deal with the immediate economic predicament but also to chart a course to the next election. Economic and political cycles need to be aligned. It is already a commonplace in Westminster that this means tax cuts down the road, though no one knows what form they will take. The Chancellor's first thoughts have already been slipped to the PM in a secret memo.
At least that's how it was for Nigel Lawson back in 1984 --- and today, George Osborne faces a similar challenge. Can a highly ambitious but boxed-in chancellor drag the centre of political gravity rightwards - above all on the touchpaper issue of tax -- and, in so doing, win the next election on Conservative terms?
Alan Johnson benefits budget 2011 chancellor Commission on Living Standards cost of living cuts David Cameron economy family food prices Gavin Kelly good life homeownership Housing income Independent inequality James Plunkett Labour Party Lib Dems living standards Middle Britain new statesman pension private rented prospect magazine social housing spending cuts Spending Review squeezed Squeezed Middle tax tax credits Treasury welfare
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