Osborne: No tax cuts before the next election

Chancellor George Osborne has signaled he is unlikely to cut taxes before the next election as the world economy faces a crisis "at least as serious" as the 2008 banking collapse.

Osborne told The Daily Telegraph his focus in the autumn is on helping business.

The Chancellor said he does not believe in "tax cuts for Christmas" and refuses to rule out a new levy on multi-million pound properties.

He also indicated that with economic growth lower than expected his timetable for reducing the deficit may be delayed and said the plan is "flexible".

Osborne also said he will unveil proposals at this week's Conservative Party Conference to prevent workers from taking their employers to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal during the first two years at a company. He will also outlines plans to reduce the grip of the trade unions on the public sector, the Daily Telegraph reports.

It had been thought the Coalition would offer tax cuts in 2014, including for married couples but the economic turmoil has undermined this plan.

When asked whether taxes would be cut during this parliament, which runs until 2015, Osborne made it clear that although he supports the principles of lower tax it is not currently on the agenda.

"We'll see how things develop in the rest of this parliament," he said. "I'm a Conservative who believes in lower taxes. They lead to a more enterprising economy.

"But I'm not somebody who believes you can fund lower taxes by borrowing more money because that is a deceit and the public are smart enough to see straight through it.

"My first priority is to deal with the deficit. I don't want to be a Chancellor who cuts taxes one year and has to put them up the next. A country with an almost double-digit deficit cannot add to its deficit in the middle of a sovereign debt storm to cut tax, presumably on a temporary basis, because you would have to then put it back up again to deal with the deficit. Tax cuts should be for life, not just for Christmas."

The Chancellor also said the debate on scrapping the 50p rate of tax would not be held until next year. However, he refused to be drawn on whether it would be replaced with the "mansion tax" proposed by the Lib Dems.

"This is not an issue for this autumn," Osborne says. "We have plenty of economic issues to discuss - we've got the situation in the eurozone, the situation in the world economy. We are doing everything we can to get the British economy moving. That is where my energy is spent."

Asked whether he would rule out a mansion tax, he replied: "I don't think it's sensible for chancellors to comment on tax changes outside of Budget time."