The shadow chancellor, Michael Portillo, has firmly distanced himself from Conservative Treasury spokesman, Oliver Letwin's comments that the Tories were seeking up to £20 billion in tax cuts.

Speaking on the BBC's "On the Record", Portillo said: "I have made it perfectly clear that in the first budget I am only committed to £2.2 billion worth of tax cuts...at the end of my second year I will have produced £8 billion worth of savings against government spending plans and I would deliver £8 billion of tax cuts. Beyond that period we will be able to go on reducing taxes...I put no figures on that."