Are the Tories really going to cut taxes – and will it do them any favours?

As the chancellor hints at the Davos summit that he intends to cut taxes, Sean O’Grady looks at how he might do it – and asks if this classic pre-election political ruse has any chance of handing the Tories a fighting chance at the polls

The chancellor is putting it about that he has so much to give away to taxpayers, he’ll need two Budgets to fit it all in (AP)

It’s an election year, and therefore one in which the voters will be invited to believe in the unbelievable – such as radical, pain-free tax cuts while the economy is wobbling towards recession, debt remains dangerously high, and public services are being starved of funding. The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is putting it about that he has so much to give away to taxpayers, he’ll need two Budgets to fit it all in.

Hardly a month will go by without those famous “hardworking families” of Britain enjoying a boost to their take-home pay, or at least a promise of it after a Tory election win. The pre-election boom and the cynically timed tax cut constitute an old political ruse, but the Tories, who’ve been at this game since at least the general election of 1955, will hope it can still do the trick. Voters, after all, have notoriously short memories.

Will it win the election?