Howard rejects Conservatives need a miracle
Conservative leader Michael Howard has rejected claims that winning the next general election would require a miracle from his party.
“We don’t need a miracle, but we do need to do a lot more”, Mr Howard told BBC One’s Breakfast with Frost.
His comments came in response to Thursday’s Hartlepool by-election defeat which saw the Conservatives relegated to fourth place by UKIP.
Mr Howard admitted that “it was a bad result”, but he argued that by-elections have “little to do” with the results of general elections.
Instead, he pointed to gains in the local and European elections back in June, describing the Conservative party as being in “quite good shape”.
In a bid to win back voters, Mr Howard is due to proffer a “timetable for action” spelling out the plans of a future Conservative government.
“What we have to do is smash the barrier of cynicism through which people now look at all politicians”, he said.
“That’s why at our conference, we are going to be concentrating on accountability on explaining to people that we are putting forward a time table for action.”
“We are not just going to be telling people this week what we are going to do if we win the election, we are going to be telling people exactly when we are going to do it so they can see very clearly, very transparently, what we are promising and hold us to account for what we are saying.”
He said the time table’s publication will inform the public on Tory policies such as policing and crime.
Mr Howard explained: “We are going talk about if we strip the police of the burdens of political correctness and paperwork which is tying their hands behind their backs, we can enable them to do their job properly.”
“We are looking at the real challenges the country faces and are bringing forward policies to deal with them.”
Focusing on the Conservative’s policy on tax, Mr Howard said they would avoid Labour’s “third-term tax rises” by cutting government red tape and bringing spending under control.
He did admit how in the early 1990s the Tories had faltered on its own pledge to cut taxes, but this time round, he said the party would offer “targeted” tax cuts.
“I do want to cut tax, I know that lower tax economies are the best economies and I know that people are paying too much tax in this country now”, he said.
Mr Howard, however, refused to rule out tax rises, saying: “I’m not prepared to make any promises I can’t keep.”
The Leader of the Opposition was making his comments as delegates gather in Bournemouth for the Conservatives’ annual conference.
