After the squalid bartering inevitable in coalition governments, Nick Clegg finally agrees to let David Cameron keep his long-neglected pledge of tax breaks for married couples.
Today's gloomy figures cast doubt on a pledge of tax cuts by the fledgling government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which was based on a forecast of 2.4percentt growth this year.
Gov. George W. Bush plunged into the final three-week stretch of the presidential race today, arguing that Vice President Al Gore would endanger the nation's prosperity and using his own pledge of tax cutting to rally his party's base.
Labor succeeded in casting Mr. Hague's pledge of tax cuts into a threat to reduce financing of public services by up to $28 billion, and Mr. Blair contrasted that with his own promises to step up spending on hospitals, schools and transportation drastically.
A1 Bush Rallies His Base Gov. George W. Bush argued that Vice President Al Gore would endanger the nation's prosperity as a proponent of "big government," and he used his own pledge of tax cutting to rally his party's base in Wisconsin.
Strolling along the Edwardian seafront, retired couple Alan and Elizabeth McDermott were adamant, in contrast, that no amount of prime ministerial pledges on tax cuts or immigration would bring them back to the party which they turned their backs on four years ago.
It means providing a competent opposition, with sensible alternative policies, and restoring traditional party discipline.There will be tempting alternatives to boring old Majorism: populism, Euroscepticism, pledges of huge tax cuts and promises not just of less spending and limits to government, but of the Utopia of a minimalist state.
There were pledges of no tax rises, new immigration controls and free school lunches - but who promised what?
So we just pledged years of tax revenues upfront to buy bad mortgage-backed securities.
