Tory chief: I'd like to offer bigger tax cuts

Michael Howard today hinted at a bolder Tory tax-cutting agenda - saying he would go much further given the chance.

His comments came after complaints from some Tory MPs that the party's ?4 billion election package was too timid.

In what appeared to be a clear signal to his party that his instincts were to slash taxes, he said he would have liked a cuts package three times bigger. "If it were not for Gordon Brown's black hole, we would have ?12 billion of tax cuts," he said at a press conference at Conservative campaign HQ.

Asked if that meant he would try to go further once in power, Mr Howard refused to be drawn. "You cannot conclude anything," he said. "I do not know whether we will be able to make further tax cuts."

The Conservative leader spoke out after a welter of polls suggested his election campaign is failing to close the gap with Labour. One survey said most voters did not believe that the Tories would cut tax at all if they took power. Mr Howard's tax remarks were seen as highly significant because in recent months he has emphasised the party's policies to increase spending on public services.

Instead, he made clear his instincts were to cut tax rather than raise spending further if the chance arose after "our first budget".

He added: "I have made it absolutely clear. I only make promises I can keep and that is ?4 billion in our first budget."

Blaming Mr Brown's alleged shortfall in public finances for the small size of the manifesto tax-cutting promises, he said: "The reason why we have to devote ?8 billion of the ?12 billion we are able to save by 2006/07 is because Gordon Brown has increased borrowing to the point where we think action has to be taken to deal with it."

Today, Mr Howard opened his daily press conference with an impassioned, unscripted speech on those themes and defended his repeated highlighting of "uncontrolled" immigration.

He denied reports of a "ring-round" of Tory MPs at the weekend to urge him to speak out on a broader range of issues and less on asylum and immigration. He insisted the party was united and dismissed a welter of polls suggesting Labour pulling ahead after two weeks of solid campaigning.

A Populus poll for The Times put Labour on 40 per cent - up three points on two weeks ago. The survey put the

Tories on 31 points - four points down since the last poll - and the Lib-Dems on 21 per cent - two points up.

Asked if voters were simply not listening to his message, Mr Howard retorted: "You may think that they are not. We are confident that they will - and we will see who is right on 6 May."

He said he would not "change course" despite the polls.

He went on to say that worsening hooliganism was the "real divide between the people who do the right thing and the people who do the wrong thing".

Mr Howard said: "You all know the kind of thing I'm talking about - youngsters either so drunk they can't stand up or so out of control they are fighting each other, and that's before you get to the violent crime.

"I don't want members of the public looking over their shoulders. I want the yobs looking round in fear."

Official figures this week are set to show a steep rise in violent and alcohol-fuelled crime.