Cameron 'could raise taxes'

David Cameron has refused to say whether a Conservative government would raise taxes.

The Tory leader told BBC One's Andrew Marr show that he would not set out his plans for the 2010 Budget.

But he insisted he would "do what is right to make sure that we have strong public finances".

And while he would set out the plans before the next election, he said that it would not "be responsible politics to re-write your next Budget every month according to changing circumstances".

"We have got to see how the out-turn looks and then we have got to make the decision," he said.

"We have always been very clear about where the money comes from, how we pay for tax cuts. At the next election we will be absolutely clear."

He pledged that a Tory government would reform public services and cut "the costs of social failure".

"Let's not ignore the fact that there is something called spending and getting greater efficiency," he added.

The Tory leader said: "I will always do what is right to make sure that we have strong public finances - we have to look at everything.

"I accept that putting the public finances back into a good state is going to be one of the major tasks of this government and - depending on when the election is - the next government."