MICHAEL HOWARD will unveil a multibillion-pound tax cut promise today as he tries to revive Conservative election fortunes after the party suffered a double blow yesterday.

The Tory leader put a brave face on the defection of a former minister to Labour and a poll suggesting that his party faces its worst election result since 1906.

Mr Howard said that he had identified £35 billion in savings on Labour’s spending plans, of which he would use £12 billion for tax cuts and reducing government borrowing. He is expected to say today that around £6 billion would be available for tax cuts. The remaining £23 billion would be reinvested in education, health, defence and international aid.

But Mr Howard’s launch of the spending review by David James, the City troubleshooter, was overshadowed both by the defection of Robert Jackson and the survey of marginal seats. The Populus poll for the News of the World said that Labour was heading for a 160-seat majority even though Mr Howard is pinning his hopes on marginal seats for a Tory renaissance. This would leave the Conservatives with 162 seats after the next election — three fewer than in 1997.

Mr Jackson, MP for Wantage since 1983, quit the party with a damning and vitriolic verdict on his former leader. Although he denied that his move was timed to spoil one of Mr Howard’s most important pre-election announcements, he said that Mr Howard’s plans would cause “certain harm”.

Mr Jackson, whose pro-Europe views contrast sharply with Mr Howard’s, concluded: “It is in the country’s best interest that Tony Blair rather than Michael Howard should form the next government.”

He added that it was a “pretty well-spread attitude” among Conservatives to whom he had spoken that Mr Howard’s policies on Europe and the public services were “incoherent”.

Mr Howard will attempt to shrug off the attack today by setting out just how much voters stand to benefit from voting Tory, although the precise taxes to be targeted will not be detailed until after the Budget.

He suggested yesterday that income tax thresholds would certainly be raised for lower earners. He is also likely to raise stamp duty thresholds and cut inheritance tax.

Mr Howard said: “Almost every independent expert says if you get another Labour government you are going to have to pay higher taxes. Because borrowing is going up, it is out of control. That is bound to lead to higher taxes or higher interest rates or both.”

Mr Howard insisted that he was “not too fussed” about polls and that defections “happen from time to time”. Mr Jackson’s support of Labour’s tuition fees would leave students with far too much debt and his support for Europe meant too much power would end up in Brussels, he said.

Mr Jackson denied he had been offered a peerage by Labour to cross the floor. He savaged the James review as a “fraudulent prospectus”. He added: “I regard it as a fig leaf to avoid talking about the real issue if you are on a tax-cutting agenda, which is shrinking the responsibilities of the State.”

THE SAVINGS

Work & Pensions: £2.09 bn out of £8.3bn

Times Recommends

• Should Knox’s trial even have reached the courtroom?
• All that glitters is not sold in Wright’s world
• Believe it or not, Big Brother is your friend