KEY POINTS:
BLACKPOOL - The Conservatives were to unveil a series of tax-cutting pledges today as the opposition party scrambles to prepare for a possible snap election.
The party, meeting in Blackpool for its annual conference, is trailing badly in the polls, with one survey over the weekend putting it 11 points behind Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour Party.
Brown is expected to wait until after the end of the Conservative conference before making an election decision. A strong performance by Tory leader David Cameron during the week, with a subsequent rise in his party's rating, could be enough to dissuade Brown from playing the early election card.
Conservative Treasury spokesman George Osborne is expected to unveil plans to cut inheritance tax and to spell out how he plans to afford a promised £400 million ($1 billion) cut in stamp duty on homes costing up to £250,000 for first-time buyers.
- Reuters
