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Liberal Conspiracy reports this morning that the Tories unveiled a poster two years ago accusing Labour of dishonestly planning to raise VAT by 20% without letting the public know. Horror.

They have, of course, just won an election, stating that they themselves had ‘no plans’ to raise VAT, whilst being propped up by a pliant coalition partner who promised to make tax more progressive as a key part of their manifesto platform. A malfeasant crutch if there ever was one.

At the same time, the UK’s trade deficit is down, and the size of the deficit is actually lower than predicted. So why did they need to announce this key rise in an outrageous tax, when they never included it in their manifesto?

‘It’s all Labour’s fault’, they answer, ‘for the size of the structural deficit’.

Herein lies the problem. Between their VAT wheeze in 2008 and their VAT rise in 2010, the Tories supported (having previously opposed) a massive bail-out of the banking system, and subsequent support for all of those who rely upon it (i.e. pretty much everyone). They later opposed fiscal stimulus, but refuse to attack it now, as it is generally accepted that most elements of the policy (including a temporary VAT cut, no less) worked. Neither of these are ‘structural’ deficit elements – but they are the only thing that has really changed between the Tory poster and now.

So ‘why the austerity’? If we are talking about the parts of the deficit which were present before the bail-out, why do we now need to do exactly what the Tories purported to campaign against two years ago, around when it was happening?

The truth is that the austerity measures being implemented, tax rises and job cuts, can really only rest, if at all, on the background logic of paying off a bailout and the fiscal stimulus. The bailout, in large parts, the Tories accepted and subsequently supported… and they also knew, like the rest of us, that an enormous fiscal stimulus was taking place.

All whilst they were campaigning not to have VAT raised.

And to add to all of that, they could have just frozen Britain’s comparatively low corporation tax. And they could cut more slowly, with normal budgetary cycles, for they have not justified their pace.

The Tories are implementing austerity not because they are forced to, but because they believe in it, and because they recognise a class-struggle opportunity when they see one.