Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The true progressives?
The BBC report an interview with Tory Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne in which he makes the extraordinary claim that the Conservatives are now the progressive force in British politics:
He said they planned to reform public services such as schools in a way which could achieve necessary spending cuts without harming frontline services.
He also cited the open primary held in Totnes to select the Tory candidate.
Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today that while he had never ruled out tax rises he had "no plans" and had had "no discussions" about VAT rising to 20%.
He added that people should not be "over-taxed" because of Labour's "overspending".
In other words he has come out with a series of meaningless soundbites and stuck a label on them. Until the Tories come up with some detailed policies to explain how precisely they are going to reform public services, save money and still give the British public want they want from schools, universities and hospitals then I think we are entitled to be a bit sceptical about the claims they make for themselves.
There is nothing progressive about George Osborne and the Tory party, indeed the tone of his comments hark back more towards Thatcherism than they look forward to a modern enabling economy for the 21st Century.
He said they planned to reform public services such as schools in a way which could achieve necessary spending cuts without harming frontline services.
He also cited the open primary held in Totnes to select the Tory candidate.
Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today that while he had never ruled out tax rises he had "no plans" and had had "no discussions" about VAT rising to 20%.
He added that people should not be "over-taxed" because of Labour's "overspending".
In other words he has come out with a series of meaningless soundbites and stuck a label on them. Until the Tories come up with some detailed policies to explain how precisely they are going to reform public services, save money and still give the British public want they want from schools, universities and hospitals then I think we are entitled to be a bit sceptical about the claims they make for themselves.
There is nothing progressive about George Osborne and the Tory party, indeed the tone of his comments hark back more towards Thatcherism than they look forward to a modern enabling economy for the 21st Century.
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. . . . and the surprise is??? Cameron, after all, developed his political teeth close to the Thatcher government . . . and any change in taxation or public services are unlikely to impact the boys from Bullingdon!
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