Budgets the Tories Must Choose from; CITY COMMENT

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Byline: Anthony Hilton

THOUGH Tory leader David Cameron and shadow chancellor George Osborne seem increasingly confused about what to do when in power to tackle the public sector deficit and associated mountain of debt, there is no reason for the rest of us to be in the dark. It is obvious that if they have the chance they will do what previous Tory governments have done.

For that, they need to adopt one of two models. The first is Geoffrey Howe's Budget of 1981, the second the 1993 Budgets (there were two) of Norman Lamont and his successor Ken Clarke. The first was brutal in its cuts and disastrous for the economy at the time. The second was more subtle and laid the foundation …