Should the Conservatives abandon the inheritance tax cut? Should the upgrade of Trident be scrapped? Can we afford National Citizen Service?

Big cuts in public spending are going to be necessary to restore order to Britain's public finances (and to avoid large tax increases).  It is politically essential that Cameron-Osborne show that they aren't just prepared to cut things that hurt others but that they are prepared to cut things that will be seen to be uncomfortable for Conservatives too - either personally or politically.  Three such candidates for cuts are floated below:

(1) Abandon the inheritance tax pledge
Within today's leading article critical of Tory economic policy, the FT urges David Cameron and George Osborne to abandon their 2007 commitment to abolish inheritance tax for all but millionaires:

"Their proposal to cut inheritance tax should, in particular, be abandoned. This policy was a tactical masterstroke when announced in 2007. It is also inexpensive. But slashing the duties owed by millionaires on unearned income will make it politically harder to sell the severe and unpleasant structural tightening for which – if they are a successful administration – they would be remembered."

Responding to a recent question from Jonathan Isaby the Tory leader said that he would NOT abandon the pledge.  The calculation at the top of the party is that the now cheaper pledge would be too difficult to unwind - certainly in respect of the political aggravation that it would cause.  But is cutting inheritance tax the right thing to do in such changed economic circumstances?

(2) Don't renew Trident
Michael Portillo has already made this case:

"The money that Brown intends to spend on renewal could be diverted instead to aircraft carriers, cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft, all of which have awesome destructive power and almost certainly will get used. It is to be hoped that the Conservatives are thinking the issue through. For that matter a different US administration might also believe that Britain would be a more useful ally if it spent less on Trident but could unleash more explosive and fly more missions in the next regional war than it did against Iraq."

By not renewing Trident the Conservatives could both strengthen conventional firepower and still have some change left over for reducing government debt.

(3) Scrap National Citizen Service
This is a flagship David Cameron idea but is it now affordable?  By scrapping/ delaying something so closely identified with his personal mission, the Tory leader would be signalling the seriousness of the budgetary situation.

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I do not know conclusively what I think about each of these three suggestions for saving money but I do think that this is the sort of tough thinking that is now necessary.

Tim Montgomerie

Comments

[John Barnes]

We do not need to abandon the IHT pledge and should not do so. But it would be acceptable to defer it to a more propitious economic climate. However, there is a danger in gestures. There are serious cuts to be made which might improve the efficiency of the public services. Try quangocide and returning much to elected local authorities.
Trident remains a useful deterrent and the carriers, while valuable in non nuclear conflicts are not an alternative.
No gimmicks, and that probably means no national citizenship service, serious attention to upping the savings ratio and a searching review of public expenditure. However, not too much defintion of precise size of the package till we have seen the actual results of all that is going on.
The Government may yet to be forced into cuts if they can't market the debt to our overseas lenders and we need to have some idea therefore where we would make the cuts ourselves.

[A Reformed Labour Voter]

In 1983 GE I campaigned for the Labour Party.
The manifesto committed the UK to scrapping the Nuclear Deterrent in favour of more resources for our conventional forces and leaving the EU.

I haven't ever changed my mind on these things but today I support the Conservatives.

Funny how some things change isn't it!

[Adam]

I fear we're on a runaway train to a socialist superstate. If so, we may have to anticipate a European Armed Forces and a single EU nuclear deterrant.

Should the UK be attacked 9/11 style we'll need to telephone a call centre in Brussels and hope we're not kept too long listening to Vivaldi.

[Laura]

Does any one know how the conservatives intend to maintain economic recovery and minimise unemployment whilst putting in place such stringent budget cuts from the start?