Portillo Will Keep Low Tax Agenda If Elected As Party Leader

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-news.com, London

18 June 2001

Supporters of Michael Portillo's leadership bid, anxious to know where he would take the party were he to become leader, had their questions answered last week. When Mr Portillo formally announced that he would contest the Tory Party Leadership in the wake of William Hague's decision to resign, he briefly outlined his philosophy, discussing UK taxation, the role of the private sector in public services, and the need for a more 'inclusive' Tory Party.

However, perhaps sensing that the UK public is reaching saturation point on this issue, Mr Portillo made no mention of the bee in Mr Hague's political bonnet, the euro. In his mini-manifesto, which he will unveil later this week, Mr Portillo is expected to reiterate his opposition to the single European currency, but his supporters do not feel that it will be a 'headline issue.'

Instead, Mr Portillo concentrated in his address on taxation, making it clear that lower taxation would be at the top of his agenda. However, he again distanced himself from the stance that the former leader had taken throughout the election campaign, by insisting that his plan was to create a highly responsible society, as opposed to the fiercely individualist vision offered by Mr Hague (and some would argue, Mrs Thatcher).

'We believe that when a person has paid his taxes that is not the end of his obligations towards others, but the beginning,' he said last Wednesday. 'A society that overtaxes leads people to believe that once they've paid their taxes they've done their bit.' He added that he believed that Labour's tax rises are not the answer to the UK's problems, as they penalise taxpayers and have thus far failed to alleviate the crises being faced by the country's ailing public services.

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