GEORGE Osborne has offered a £750 million pre-election sweetener with a planned freeze on petrol duty rises up to 2015.
And the Chancellor also hinted at possible future tax cuts should the Conservatives win the 2015 General Election, saying people would be able to share the rewards of the Tories' financial discipline.
In his keynote speech, he attacked Ed Miliband's economic plans, comparing the Labour leader with Karl Marx, accusing him of a retreat to the Left and dismissing his proposed freeze on gas and electricity prices as a "quick-fix con".
By contrast, Mr Osborne told activists that he was offering a serious plan for a grown-up country, which would create jobs, keep mortgage rates low and let people keep more of their income free of tax.
Buoyed by a series of positive economic indicators, the Chancellor said he was an optimist about Britain's future and declared: "The future looks brighter than it did just a few dark years ago."
However, he warned: "The battle to turn Britain around is not even close to being over and we are going to finish what we have started."
Mr Osborne confirmed plans to require the long-term unemployed to work for their benefits. He derided Labour's focus on the cost of living, telling the conference Mr Miliband failed to recognise increases in mortgage rates caused by a loss of economic credibility would more than wipe out any gains from lower energy bills.
However, he said he hoped to extend the freeze on fuel duty by cancelling the 2p-a-litre rise pencilled in by former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling for September 2014 .
If Mr Osborne were to scrap the rise in next year's Budget as planned, motorists would save £750m a year, leaving pump prices 20p a litre lower than under the plans inherited from Labour and bringing the total reduction in the tax burden to £22.6bn over the course of the Parliament, aides explained.
Meanwhile, a YouGov poll of 1001 adults has found almost half (42%) of people believe the Conservatives would be more likely to keep the economy growing than Labour (33%).
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