Tories 'not dumping Thatcher'

Friday, 28 September 2007 12:00 AM

The Conservatives have insisted they have not snubbed Margaret Thatcher in their rush to be the "heirs to Blair".

Despite claiming in May that the Conservatives were the inheritors to Tony Blair's public services reforms, George Osborne said today the "heirs to Blair" tag was unfair.

David Cameron has been accused of "trashing" Margaret Thatcher in his bid to modernise the Conservatives.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Osborne said: "Of course we are successors of the Thatcher inheritance. She's a Conservative and I'm a Conservative and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are Labour politicians.

"We're not dumping Margaret Thatcher. David Cameron's first job in politics was working for Margaret Thatcher."

But the shadow chancellor said the Conservatives could not reverse their electoral losing streak by "playing the old tunes of the 1980s".

He told the newspaper: "Margaret Thatcher had the answers for her time; David Cameron has the answers for his time."

Mr Osborne said the Tory leadership was right to modernise the party. The Conservatives are now positioned in the centre right, where the majority of the public identify themselves, he said.

Mr Cameron's reforms had "earned us the right to be heard," Mr Osborne said. "It means when the firing gun of the election is called we are in with a real chance."

But he revealed next week's Conservative party conference will re-establish the Tories' claims to their traditional battleground.

Mr Osborne said next week's conference will be in tune with Conservative principles, include trust in people, extending choice, supporting aspirations and strengthening families, communities and the nation.

In a sign Mr Cameron is trying to reconnect with the Tory right, Mr Osborne said the party would have to make "choices" from this summer's varied and often contradictory policy reviews.

This will mean dropping many green taxes in favour of traditional Tory tax cuts.

The shadow chancellor said the party would not tax people for parking at supermarkets, arguing families did not want to be penalised when doing their weekly shopping.

Inheritance tax will come into criticism at next week's conference, after Mr Osborne said the "increasingly unfair tax" affects many ordinary families.

He also said the Conservatives will support marriage through the tax system - despite Labour ministers dismissing the policy as a return to "back to basics".

Mr Osborne said: "Individually we can all think of people where single parents have done a good job but, generally speaking as an issue, marriage works.

"Gordon is deeply out of touch with what is happening in many of our communities where broken families and social breakdown are causing enormous distress and poverty and affecting the life chances of many of our children."

Tags: