Osborne 'cannot promise' to reverse 50p tax

The 50 pence tax rate on those earning over £150,000 may not be reversed under a Conservative government.

The shadow chancellor told the BBC this morning that he "cannot promise" to reverse the tax on the rich if the Tories come to power at the next election.

George Osborne explained that his "number one priority" would be avoiding "tax rises on the many, not the few".

Osborne also pledged that he would introduce public spending restraint sooner than Alistair Darling if he became chancellor.

Dealing with public finances is the "real economic pain", Osborne said.

He proposed to begin reigning in public spending in 2010, while Darling plans increased public spending over that year.

"Endlessly increasing the end-point on the horizon when you hope to return the public finances to balance is not actually a real answer to the problem," Osborne said.

"A few months ago, we were told it was going to be a six-year national mission and, before that, a four-year national mission.

"It is not dealing with the debt problem that... I have warned the country about."

The shadow chancellor stated that the Conservatives would look at 2.9 per cent growth in public spending next year.

"A lot of the decisions taken yesterday were not real decisions. They were decisions to push it off until after the next election," he said.

"I am going to make sure, that come the general election, people know exactly how the Conservative Party is going to deal with this problem that the Labour Party has created."

Labour's proposed that tax on those earning over £150,000 would raise around £2bn.

But Osborne suggested that they did not have a "dynamic model" in the Treasury to prove this.

"In other words, they don't know whether these higher tax rates are going to have a detrimental economic affect in the future," he said.

"I cannot promise to reverse the 50 pence tax rate because my priority will be to avoid the other tax rise that is coming down the track, which is the National Insurance rise on anyone earning over £20,000.

"We are going to try and avoid the tax rises on the many, not the few. That is going to be my number one priority."