British Shadow chancellor Mr Michael Portillo today denied the Tories were planning spending cuts of £20 billion to pay for tax cuts and insisted his party's manifesto pledges on taxes and spending were the most carefully costed of any political party.
Mr Portillo insisted savings identified by the Tories amounted to just £8 billion in two years.
Beyond that period, he said, Tories had further tax cutting "aspirations" but these were not yet quantified.
Mr Portillo was speaking in Edinburgh as the tax and spending pledges of the main parties continue to remain a key election theme.
At Labour's news conference in London today, Chancellor Gordon Brown said Tory treasury spokesman, Mr Oliver Letwin, had admitted the Tories were planning to cut £20 billion from spending plans.
Mr Brown demanded: "Where are the cuts to fall? Which hospitals and which schools will suffer? How many police officers?"
But Mr Portillo argued that although Labour appeared to have ruled out raising income tax rates, there remained a possibility of higher taxes in Scotland after the next round of Scottish Parliament elections.
"Henry McLeish [First Minister] will not commit himself not to raise the tartan tax in Scotland," said Mr Portillo.
He claimed the question was not whether Labour would have to raise extra taxes to foot the bill for spending pledges, but by what means.
PA