George, the ball is in your court

Over the last few weeks, many people have been critical of the lack of policy coming out of Conservative HQ; especially from George Osborne on what he plans to do to turn the nation's finances around.


Last week's Budget report from Alastair Darling gave a few hints as to why the Tories are so loathe to release policy information at this stage in proceedings; there's a very high chance that Labour will go ahead and steal it for themselves.  You just have to look at Darling's plans for Stamp Duty and higher taxes on Cider to know that much.

However, with the Budget Labour have laid their cards down on the table (after a fashion, make sure you take a look at what political commentators have been saying about what wasn't mentioned) regarding what they plan to do with the nation's finances should they be given another five years at the helm.  Admittedly though, whilst Darling has finally admitted that cuts will be necessary (harder and deeper than under Thatcher, if you will), he still hasn't said where these cuts will be made.

This aside, the stage is now set for George Osborne to start promoting Tory policies on the economy.

In much the same way as John Smith did for Labour in 1992, Osborne should be looking to release his own Budget; making it absolutely clear to the electorate how he and his party will be seeking to tackle the deficit.

Tonight's Chancellors' debate on Channel 4 at 2000hrs would be the ideal opportunity for him to do this.  Not only will he be joined by the current incumbent, but also by the Lib Dem would-be heir, Vince Cable.  A well chosen release of policy here would give Osborne the chance to make the Tories the complete focus of the debate and allow him to prove from the off that his policies come up to scrutiny from all sides.

Either way, we need some substance and we need it fast.  With an election now only five weeks away it is madness that so many people still don't know what we as a party stand for.