Lower tax promise from Tories

Speaking during a visit to China with Conservative leader David Cameron, Mr Osborne said they would be "low-tax Tories" if voted into government.

"I believe in lower taxes. I think lower taxes are good for people and the economy," he told the Daily Mail.

"I would like to be the chancellor that underpromises and overdelivers.

"I want this to be a sustained programme of lower taxation as and when we can afford it, by controlling public spending."

The main level of corporation tax will fall from 30p to 28p in the pound from April but Mr Osborne said that would still be "too high".

He instead pointed to Ireland's decision to cut the tax to 12.5% as the right response to a competitive global environment.