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We're the progressives - Osborne We're the progressives - Osborne
(about 6 hours later)
Shadow chancellor George Osborne has said the Conservatives are now the progressive force in British politics. Shadow chancellor George Osborne has said the Conservatives are now the "progressive" force in UK 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 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 said Labour had "abandoned the field of progressive politics" and its spending was "out of control".
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%. But Business Secretary Lord Mandelson accused the Tories of "political cross-dressing" which would "fool no-one".
He added that people should not be "over-taxed" because of Labour's "overspending". 'Caricature'
'Improve quality' In a speech to the Demos think-tank Mr Osborne also warned against a "caricature" of Conservatives as wanting always to "turn the clock back".
Mr Osborne said: "Because of the debt crisis the country faces we have a choice. You can either reform the way these services are delivered - so the money goes further and you get more for less - or you can face frontline service cuts. The party had led the way recently by holding an open primary to select the parliamentary candidate for Totnes, Devon, he added.
"Because Labour has no plans to reform public services... if the Labour government was re-elected there would be frontline service cuts. The torch of progressive politics has been passed to a new generation of politicians - and those politicians are Conservatives George Osborne, shadow chancellor
FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme And attacking Labour's record, Mr Osborne said: "There is nothing progressive about out-of-control spending that the poorest end up having to pay for, and nothing fair about huge national debts that future generations are left having to pay for.
"It is the Conservatives as the progressive force in British politics now who are thinking seriously about how you change the way you deliver public services so you can improve the quality of service delivery even in a period of budget restraint." "And it is that fiscal responsibility allied to a passionate belief in public service reform - particularly in education - which is the only progressive route out of this debt crisis."
Spending on health had to be accompanied by "productivity gains", while increasing pupil numbers meant education policy needed reform to ensure more money gets to the "frontline".
Mr Cameron said: "The torch of progressive politics has been passed to a new generation of politicians - and those politicians are Conservatives.
"By pursuing a course of illiberalism, centralisation, fiscal incontinence and opposition to meaningful public service reform, the current leadership of the Labour Party has abandoned the field of progressive politics."
Sweden
Earlier, the shadow chancellor told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he had not discussed plans to increase VAT to 20% to deal with the government's deficit.
Mr Osborne praised Sweden as a country which had "dramatically" improved its education system, despite its own financial crisis, by allowing independent providers into the state sector.Mr Osborne praised Sweden as a country which had "dramatically" improved its education system, despite its own financial crisis, by allowing independent providers into the state sector.
These companies were able to negotiate better contracts for computers, text books and land and had forced the state bureaucracy to reduce its costs, he claimed.These companies were able to negotiate better contracts for computers, text books and land and had forced the state bureaucracy to reduce its costs, he claimed.
Mr Osborne added: "It means the end of the state monopoly on the provision of state-funded education. But Lord Mandelson told the BBC that Conservative plans to "take £5bn of public spending out of the economy" damaged the party's claim to be progressive.
"Education is still free for people, for children and parents. It's just that not all teachers in the country are employed by the state." He said : "I think my old friend George Osborne is involved in a bit of political cross-dressing and I don't think it's going to fool anyone."
Lord Mandelson added: "To say that they are the progressives in British politics at one level is laughable. I think it's an audacious try by George Osborne.
"To start taking those amounts of money out of the economy when we are not even out of recession, would they really consider that it would be progressive to do that with the economic and human consequences that this would have?
"It's frankly irresponsible of them even to put forward these ideas."