'Our position on IR35 is right' says Conservatives

A Conservative party spokesman has said there would be no change to their pledge to repeal IR35 following reports that the Tories would abandon tax cuts.

The spokesman said: "[Members of the Conservative party] have spoken very generally about wanting to focus on services. All of our policy is currently up for renewal."

Asked what bearing this would have on the party's position on IR35, he said: "I see no reason why there would be any change to our stance on IR35 - I believe our position on it is right."

Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Secretary and Michael Howard, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer have both recently hinted that the party will abandon long-standing commitments to tax cuts in an attempt to win voters' trust on public services.

Mr Letwin told The Independent in a recent interview that the Tories would not even consider tax cuts until they had worked out new policies for services such as health and education.

He said: "It may very well turn out that the party might enter the next election without a tax cuts pledge."

In an interview on the BBC's 'On the Record,' Mr Howard said: "It is better if taxes are lower. If you look at the evidence internationally, you will see that countries with lower taxes, countries with public spending as a lower proportion of GDP do better economically, grow faster, create resources more quickly, which is better for everyone, and better for the public services as well as for individuals. We want to harness all the resources that are available in our society to tackle these pressing problems of healthcare and education and the other public services.

"It is possible there would be no tax cuts under a Conservative Government. I would like to see tax cuts, but we are not going to put tax cuts ahead of the need to give the people of this country the healthcare, the education and the other public services which they are entitled to and which they are certainly not getting now."

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Richard Powell, UKTECH