The Liberal Democrats' campaigns and communications chief has said that he expects the party's forthcoming conference to approve plans for tax cuts.
At a briefing on Wednesday ahead of the party's annual autumn gathering in Bournemouth later this month, Ed Davey said that he expects a controversial policy document to "go through very happily".
The 'Make it happen' paper is expected to be the main policy flashpoint of the week as it contains an ambition to find £20bn of savings in government spending plans, some of which will be put towards pledging tax cuts in the Lib Dems' next manifesto.
Some activists are expected to oppose the blueprint on the basis that the party should not advocate cuts in public spending.
Davey accepted that "there will be people who want to debate that". However he added that the "feedback has been very positive" to party leader Nick Clegg's proposal.
"I haven't really heard many people worrying about it," he said.
If approved, the document would commit the party to a programme of cuts and efficiency savings amounting to three per cent of the government's annual budget, although Davey stressed that not all of this would be put towards tax cuts, with much of money reallocated to other spending priorities.
And he added that it was "highly unlikely" that either the NHS or education budgets would be the targets of cuts.
But he did say that pledging tax cuts would be the biggest single message to emerge from the conference.
"Individuals and families are having real problems making ends meet," he said.
"We are going to show at this conference that we understand that and we have the policies to help individuals and families make ends meet."
However Davey denied that the move from first advocating higher public spending to now proposing a reduction was a either a "short-term" response to the slowdown in the economy or a "philosophical shift" under Clegg's leadership.
"It is a response to [the government's] increase in public expenditure," he said. "It is actually practical politics."
The party also said that the environment would not feature at the conference this year as heavily as it has done in the past.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd