Gordon Brown has left Britain’s economy ill-prepared for a downturn: he borrowed in a boom and left us with one of biggest budget deficits in the advanced world; he stripped the Bank of England of its powers to supervise the City; he actively encouraged the risk-taking culture in our banks; and he claimed to have abolished boom and bust.
It is now vital that we restore stability to the British economy and responsibility to our public finances. Unfortunately, Brown’s economic mismanagement means we can’t offer big upfront net tax cuts like some other countries.
But we can still help families and businesses right now.
- We will freeze council tax for two years by reducing wasteful spending on advertising and consultancy in central government
- We will abolish Stamp Duty for nine out of ten first-time buyers and raise the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 million. Both of these changes will be funded by a flat-rate charge on non-domiciles.
- We will provide tax cuts for new jobs with a £2.6bn package of tax breaks to get people into work, funded by money that would otherwise go on unemployment benefit
- We will cut the main rate of corporation tax to 25p and the small companies’ rate to 20p, paid for by scrapping complex reliefs and allowances
- We will introduce a £50bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite
bank lending to businesses and get credit flowing again - We will give small and medium-sized businesses a six-month VAT holiday, funded by a 7.5% interest rate on delayed payments
- We will cut National Insurance by 1% for six months for firms with fewer than five employees, paid for from the above changes to the company tax regime
- We will encourage a new culture of saving by abolishing income tax on savings for everyone on the basic rate of tax and raising the tax allowance for pensioners by £2,000 to £11,490
To repair the broken economy in the long run, we need economic responsibility. That means:
- A responsible fiscal policy, bolstered by independent oversight.
- A responsible financial policy, bolstered by a renewed role for the Bank of England
- A responsible attitude to economic development that fosters more balanced economic growth
It is only the Conservatives that are offering real economic change.
Download ‘Reconstruction – Our Plan for a Strong Economy’ to find out more
