The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are working to publish a new fiscal framework committing the two parties to eliminating the structural deficit by 2018. Although both parties are in agreement on a 2018 target date for scrapping the deficit, the Lib Dems want to cut borrowing through a mix of spending cuts and tax rises, including the so-called “mansion tax” and the scrapping of higher rate pension tax relief. George Osborne, meanwhile, believes the structural deficit can be eliminated through £25bn of public spending cuts and a further £5bn from closing tax loopholes, ruling out the need for tax rises.