Tory leader Michael Howard yesterday promised lower taxes as he staked out his battlelines for the next General Election.

Mr Howard called Chancellor Gordon Brown a "tax and regulation junkie" and said only his party stood in the way of a third term of Labour tax hikes.

In a speech to the Conservatives' spring conference in Harrogate, he set out the moral and practical case for low taxes.

He continued to carefully avoid any specific pledge to cut taxes from their current levels but he said bills would be lower under a Tory government because it would not bring in further rises planned by Labour.

In his first conference speech as leader, Mr Howard said the other key issue for the Tories at the next election would be ending Labour's intrusion into people's lives. He said the election would set Britain's course for the next generation.

"We stand at a crossroads," he told delegates.

"One road leads to an even bigger role for the State. Higher taxes, higher government spending - a country in which big government knows best.

"The other road leads to a country in which people pay less tax and have more control over their lives, a country in which individuals have the freedom to determine their own destinies and make the best of their talents. A country in which people are big and the State is small."

Mr Howard said there was a moral case for lower taxes as they gave people more opportunity to make their own decisions.

There was also a practical case because low tax economies created more jobs, grew more businesses and increased people's wealth.

Labour's 60 "stealth tax" rises meant people were now paying £42 a week more for every man, woman and child.

Mr Howard said Mr Brown was addicted to red tape, regulation and higher taxes. He was a "junkie" who could not bring himself to admit it. But Labour's tax-and-spend approach without real reform was not working.

Monday March 08, 2004