Tories War Over Spending and Tax Cuts

1.57.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 25th Mar 2005

Tories War Over Spending and Tax Cuts

The sacking of senior Conservative Howard Flight MP from the front bench showed how seriously split the Conservatives still are about key issues like public services, according to Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne who is fighting Eastleigh at the general election.

Mr Huhne, a member of the Lib Dems' Treasury team, said that Mr Flight's remarks to a group of Thatcherite Tory supporters confirmed that a substantial part of the Conservative party would press for bigger public spending cuts than the £35 billion already earmarked by Michael Howard.

Mr Flight said that the potential for spending cuts went "a good deal further" than the James review conducted by the Conservatives, which had been "sieved" for what was politically acceptable. Mr Flight said that it was only when the Tories had won the election that they could "actually get on with what needs to be done".

Mr Flight admitted that the Tories would be split. He said: "The real issue is, having won power, do you then go to it? Then we're back to west and rys and all that happened in the 1980s. And be sure when I stand once we gain power."

Mr Flight's remarks follow those of fellow right-winger John Redwood, who said that the Tories' proposed tax cuts were merely a "downpayment".

Mr Huhne said that the Tories' spending and tax arithmetic did not add up, because they tried to pretend that everything could be done by cutting waste. "Thanks to Mr Flight, we now know what their real agenda is if they were to be elected: massive spending cuts."

Mr Huhne pointed out that the Tory programme was riddled with inconsistencies such as the commitment to toughen immigration control while cutting the immigration service budget by half.