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Cameron rules out tax cut pledge Cameron rules out tax cut pledge
(10 minutes later)
David Cameron has delivered a sharp rebuke to those in his party calling for a commitment to cut taxes.David Cameron has delivered a sharp rebuke to those in his party calling for a commitment to cut taxes.
The Conservative leader told BBC One's Sunday AM: "I can't say to the British people here are some up-front tax cuts which we haven't found how to fund".The Conservative leader told BBC One's Sunday AM: "I can't say to the British people here are some up-front tax cuts which we haven't found how to fund".
He added: "Those people who say they want tax cuts and they want them now - they can't have them."He added: "Those people who say they want tax cuts and they want them now - they can't have them."
Mr Cameron was speaking as the Conservatives gather in Bournemouth for their annual conference.Mr Cameron was speaking as the Conservatives gather in Bournemouth for their annual conference.
The Conservative leader is expected to tell the gathering Tories must lay a "solid foundation" of principles before detailing policies. The Conservative leader is expected to tell the gathering in a speech later that Tories must lay a "solid foundation" of principles before detailing policies.
A party review group will report soon on the tax question and is expected to call for cuts. He will set out the "unifying idea" he wants to see running through Conservative policies.
But Mr Cameron feels a pledge to reduce taxes this long before an election may be seen as reckless. Mr Cameron told Sunday AM: "What we need is a revolution in social responsibility - giving power to parents, to teachers, to the people working in hospitals and also in local government as well.
'No rush' "You know, we are far too centralised as a country. So let's see some civic responsibility, let's drive down responsibility to local authorities. So that's a unifying idea."
The chairman of the Conservatives' policy review, Oliver Letwin, suggested a Tory government would not rush to cut taxes. Pressure
The Conservatives' Tax Reform Commission set up last year under previous leader Michael Howard is expected to call for £20bn in tax cuts - mainly in income and inheritance tax - when it reports next month.
CONSERVATIVE WEEK Sunday Senator John McCainDavid CameronMonday Hot topic: Marketing to childrenPublic services debateDavid Davis, Crime debateHot topic: Cheap flightsEnvironment debateTuesdayHot topic: Alcohol and drugsSocial justice debateBusiness in societyGeorge Osborne, economyWilliam Hague, Liam Fox, foreign affairsDevolution debate Wednesday Culture of creativityHot topic: Globalisation Global poverty debateLeader's speech Analysis: New look rally? Send us your viewsCONSERVATIVE WEEK Sunday Senator John McCainDavid CameronMonday Hot topic: Marketing to childrenPublic services debateDavid Davis, Crime debateHot topic: Cheap flightsEnvironment debateTuesdayHot topic: Alcohol and drugsSocial justice debateBusiness in societyGeorge Osborne, economyWilliam Hague, Liam Fox, foreign affairsDevolution debate Wednesday Culture of creativityHot topic: Globalisation Global poverty debateLeader's speech Analysis: New look rally? Send us your views
"Nobody... can predict what the effect of reducing a particular tax will be, how quickly, how much, the revenue will rise from the behaviour that people engage in as a result of the tax reduction," he told the BBC's Straight Talk programme. The commission, chaired by Lord Forsyth, is reported to have come under pressure from Shadow Chancellor George Osborne to water down its proposals.
"We have to ensure that we first get our books into order and then of course we do hope to gain supply side-effects ...i.e. people actually behaving differently and making more money and growing faster. The party's policy chief, Oliver Letwin, has repeatedly suggested a Tory government would not rush to cut taxes.
"I don't ever see us as putting economic stability at risk by making promises about tax cuts until we know we can prudently fulfil them." "I don't ever see us as putting economic stability at risk by making promises about tax cuts until we know we can prudently fulfil them," he told the BBC's Straight Talk programme
Tim Montgomerie, former chief of staff under one of the Tories' previous leaders, Ian Duncan Smith, said tax rates remained one of the key issues Mr Cameron needed to address. Tim Montgomerie, editor of the Conservative Home website and ex chief of staff to former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, said tax rates remained one of the key issues Mr Cameron needed to address.
He said: "Conservatives see a lot of the good that the Thatcher years did is slowly being undone. He said: "People are willing to give David Cameron the benefit of the doubt for the moment, but hopefully next year we will see a beginning of signs of a commitment to lower taxation."
"British tax levels are now higher than Germany's. If we're going to compete as an economy we have to cut taxes. Weblog
"People are willing to give David Cameron the benefit of the doubt for the moment, but hopefully next year we will see a beginning of signs of a commitment to lower taxation." US Senator John McCain, one of the frontrunner to secure the Republican nomination for 2008, is due to address the Conservative conference later.
Mr McCain, who compared Mr Cameron to John F Kennedy in an interview with The Spectator magazine, said he had met the Tory leader for the first time this week, but was "excited" by what he was trying to achieve.
"I'm excited and thrilled to see this new generation of leadership coming up and by the way I know they'll make mistakes, we all do when we're just moving in to those kinds of situations but fresh blood, enthusiasm, conservative principles...I'm excited about this group," he told Sunday AM.
On Saturday Mr Cameron launched his own video weblog, Webcameron.org, to try to get his message across to young people.