How should the Tories build on their excellent current approval ratings, to position themselves optimally for a 2015 election?

[longfingernails]

Thanks to Cameron's uncharacteristic show of courage, the Tories are ending 2011 in the ascendency.

My first suggestions:

• Engineer a showdown with the European Court of Human Rights over prisoner voting; if we can leave then all the better.
• Continue raising the lower income tax threshold.
• Make any taxpayer funding of any trade union activity illegal.
• Turbocharge the Gove reforms; the more the NUT and NASUWT squeal the better.
• Abandon High Speed 2 and invest in dozens of small suburban rail projects in marginal constituencies instead.
• Put Jeremy Browne in charge of Business (he seems like a genuinely deregulatory Lib Dem who will cut red tape); move the Stalinist Cable to the essentially non-job of the Environment once, as seems likely according to current reports, Chris Huhne gets prosecuted.
• Get rid of the 50p tax rate for all those who can prove that they generate at least 3 other downstream jobs; they have similar systems I think in America (at least in some states)
• Sack Ken Clarke and Crispin Blunt, get some real conservatives in the MOJ; a good opportunity to promote some of the 2010 intake.
• Above all, continue doing things which makes the Guardian, the large Mumsnet contingent who parrot Polly Toynbee's every word, and Guardian TV (aka the BBC) "froth" in Islington dinner party rage.

Any more ideas?

LaydeeC. Well, what difference does it make if those earning more are benefitting from increased income tax thresholds too? Firstly, it's would encourage people to work harder if they are able to keep more of the fruits of their labour. Secondly, they will still be paying more tax as 40% of £100k is £40k whereas 40% of £45k is £18k. Those earning more already pay more tax in ratio terms. I don't believe in penalising those who have climbed the career ladder and do well with punative taxes. It's not beneficial for individuals or the country, it just drives away entrepreneurs and discourages hard word imo.

LaydeeC, what can very simply be done is to raise the income tax threshold and lower the threshold for upper rate accordingly. This way you can make sure current higher earners are not financially better off whilst lower earners benefit.

All without the complete quagmire and administration nightmare which is tax credits. Personally whilst I think the aims were noble, tax credits has become the proverbial noose around our necks.

For once, I agree with you niceguy.

I'd like to see tax credits removed, with all the accompanying opportunities for error and fraud, and income tax not paid until a living wage is earned - the Lib Dems 10k is a start but still much too low. Then no need to fill in lengthy forms to reclaim the money you earned originally.

i think there should be extra help ie a tax allowance for hose with kids, ie the married couples' allowance that was abolished to make way for tax credits in 2000, but extended in this day and age to those not married but with kids - as happens in equivalent European countries where (far more generous) tax allowances exist for families with kids.

That still leaves some low/no earners who may need top ups from the state (as even with no tax they don't earn enough) but far less than now.

And as people weren't expecting huge top-ups from the state it would put the onus on companies to pay a fair wage, rather than expecting 'the state' to pay the bulk of people's real take-home pay.

If the Health and Social Care bill goes through next month, it'll be the end of the Conservative party. Once the electorate realises what the government has done, it's game over.

The lefties are against the Bill because they don't want the NHS privatised, the right wingers are against it because it'll spell the end of the Tory party. Lansley's for the chop.

Look how many MPs and Lords will benefit from the Bill though (not just the Tories, for any lefties reading this).

Exactly B&B.

The law of unintended consequences has meant that many companies now offer part time jobs to people because they know the state will top up the wage. In the past the amount of people able to work part time was limited.

In addition, a lot of people suddenly found themselves in a position where they had to turn down extra work for fear it affected their tax credits.

Not to mention many people like my good friend who found that financially she was massively better off alone than with her husband and both working. That surely cannot be right. How can a single earner working part time be better off than two parents together, one working full time, the other part time???

All funded by borrowed money.