Cameron tries to woo voters with €9bn tax cuts pledge

Prime Minister David Cameron promised to hand almost half the British population a tax cut if re-elected next year, a pledge he hopes will win over millions of voters and refocus debate away from a schism inside his party over Europe.

The promise, which will cost over £7bn (€9bn) to fund, is a calculated gambit to try to shift the narrative from one which has focussed on the damage the anti-EU Ukip is doing to Cameron’s re-election hopes by siphoning off voters and politicians.

It was also an attempt to kickstart his Conservative party’s moribund rating in opinion polls, where it has been trailing Labour for months, by holding out the prospect of a sweetener to balance a less enticing promise to freeze most welfare pay cheques and to slash state spending.