Cutting inheritance tax would not be a high priority for an incoming Tory government, Ken Clarke has said.
The shadow business secretary told the BBC its main economic goals would be to cut public debt and restore growth.
The Tories' pledge to take millions of families out of inheritance tax in September 2007 was seen as a key moment in reviving their political fortunes.
Labour said the more Conservative economic policies came under scrutiny "the more they fall apart".
'Tremendous mess'
Recent indications that the Tories will not reverse Labour's planned tax rises for the rich have already caused internal ructions.
Increasing income tax for top-earners to 45% from 2011 would be "difficult to avoid", shadow chancellor George Osborne has said - a stance backed up by Mr Clarke and foreign secretary William Hague.
But the Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said the move would stifle British enterprise, a view Mr Clarke said was "just wrong".
In recent weeks, senior Conservatives have stressed the party will face extremely tough choices if they win the next election given the state of the public finances.
The Conservatives insist cutting the overall burden of tax for families remains a long-term objective and have pledged to freeze council tax bills for two years among other proposals.
But they have declined to rule out tax rises after the next election...
The shadow business secretary told the BBC its main economic goals would be to cut public debt and restore growth.
The Tories' pledge to take millions of families out of inheritance tax in September 2007 was seen as a key moment in reviving their political fortunes.
Labour said the more Conservative economic policies came under scrutiny "the more they fall apart".
'Tremendous mess'
Recent indications that the Tories will not reverse Labour's planned tax rises for the rich have already caused internal ructions.
Increasing income tax for top-earners to 45% from 2011 would be "difficult to avoid", shadow chancellor George Osborne has said - a stance backed up by Mr Clarke and foreign secretary William Hague.
But the Conservative Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said the move would stifle British enterprise, a view Mr Clarke said was "just wrong".
In recent weeks, senior Conservatives have stressed the party will face extremely tough choices if they win the next election given the state of the public finances.
The Conservatives insist cutting the overall burden of tax for families remains a long-term objective and have pledged to freeze council tax bills for two years among other proposals.
But they have declined to rule out tax rises after the next election...
bbc linky
Personally I thought this was one of the best policies the Conservatives had
Comment