Elusive Conservative front-bencher Oliver Letwin - dubbed the "Dorset one" - broke cover yesterday to clarify his position on the Tories tax policies, creating more confusion in the process.

Following an unscripted FT interview in which Letwin talked of Tory ambitions for a £20 billion tax saving, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury confirmed that £8 billion was the figure the Conservatives were looking for. He expressed astonishment at the furore over his comments saying "there is no quote, direct or indirect, from me giving that figure".

However, the FT reports Letwin as saying yesterday: "The story as written in the Financial Times is a perfectly accurate representation of comments made by me to the FT." He explained his comments by saying that the £20 billion figure was an "aspiration" not a commitment.

"What I told [the FT] was what our tax policy is. It starts with £8bn of costed tax cuts", Letwin said.