Clarke Toes Single Currency Line

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The golden rule of Tory policy was that taxes would only be cut when it could be afforded, Kenneth Clarke, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said yesterday.

He told the Conservative Party conference in Bourne-mouth that sticking to that rule was an essential prerequisite for earning and keeping the trust of the British people.

Labour immediately denounced Mr Clarke for saying that the Tories were instinctive tax-cutters - having introduced 22 tax increases since the 1992 election, including the imposition of value-added tax on domestic power and fuel bills. Mr Clarke said that the successful economies of the modern world would be the low- tax economies. But he added: …