A Conservative government will give additional tax breaks worth £200 a year to parents of children aged under five-years-old, the shadow chancellor, Michael Portillo, pledged on Monday.

The pledge is seen by some as a u-turn as the Tories - with the Tories previously describing the measure as a "gimmick".

Portillo held out the possibility of across-the-board tax decreases in the second half of a Tory government if spending could be kept below the growth rate of the economy.