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'The most feeble of Tory manifestos': Thatcher's economists savage May's tax plans - Chopper's Election Podcast Episode 7

Christopher Hope
Updated

The Conservatives are likely to fight their general election campaign on “the thinnest, most feeble manifesto full of vacuities”, the head of a Thatcherite thinktank has warned.

Mark Littlewood, the director of the Institute of Economic Affairs which was Margaret Thatcher’s favourite thinktank, said he was “worried” about the party’s manifesto.

He told Chopper’s Election podcast: “I am pretty worried about the manifesto and I am also pretty worried about the Conservatives track record in office. 

“Just a couple of days ago we heard Theresa May saying ‘we are the party of lower tax’ – but that begs the question ‘lower than what’?

“It might be lower than Jeremy Corbyn’s levels of tax, but taxes have not gone down since 2010 in aggregate. 

"So what sort of pledges will the Conservatives make to get the overall burden down?”

He added: “I am not particularly bothered if they don’t make a huge list of pledges but there is the pledge I would like them to make – if they are re-elected on June 8 will the total tax burden as a proportion of national income fall?"

Asked if they will make that pledge he said: “I doubt it – we are going to see the thinnest, most feeble manifesto full of vacuities – but that is a real problem.

“They should seize the opportunity in an election they are almost bound to win to put forward a genuine Conservative manifesto.”

Mr Littlewood also attacked commitments to continuing to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on aid in the developing world and 2 per cent on defence as “ludicrous”.

He said: “If you are going to do it for aid and defence why not do it for everything – nine per cent on health, 0.1 per cent on street cleaning, 0.2  per cent on libraries? It is the most ludicrous way to carve up the expenditure of the Government.” 

Chopper's Brexit Podcast has been temporarily rebranded Chopper's Election Podcast and is available on the Telegraph’s website and iTunes this morning.

This week's guests: Mark Littlewood of the IEA, YouGov's Joe Twyman, Tory MP Gerald Howarth, Open Britain's James McGrory, former Tory spin doctor Giles Kenningham and the Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. They discuss mugwumps, manifestos and more.

Last week's episode was a bumper edition featuring lively debate between Lord Howard of Lympne and Barry Gardiner MP - as well as election analysis from Professor Matthew Goodwin, former EU Commissioner Lord Hill, the Telegraph's own Philip Johnston and pollster Johnny Heald. 

To listen offline, subscribe to the podcast:

Listen to episode six below.

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