Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has refused to bow to demands from party rebels to pledge tax cuts if a Tory government came into power after the next election.
He said he would always put economic stability and interest and mortgage rates above tax rates as his number one priority.
Although he stressed: "I believe in lower taxes," Mr Osborne told a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference in Bournemouth that he would follow the example of Mrs Thatcher's administration by putting stability at the heart of his economic policy.
Mr Osborne stressed: "We are not looking for a Clause Four moment. We are not looking to have a battle with our party members - these are party members who have stood with us.
"The Conservative leadership is not looking for a fight with 'unreconstructed Tories'."
But challenged on why he would not commit himself to reducing taxes, the shadow chancellor stressed: "We have started to talk about issues like interest rates, mortgage rates, inflation.
"I have been determined to have an economic policy for our party which doesn't just have tax as our centrepiece but also talks about stability.
"You have got to say to people if it comes to a choice between cutting taxes and economic stability we would choose economic stability first.
"We would put mortgage rates above tax rates."
He told the meeting: "I believe in lower taxes and sharing the proceeds of growth. But if someone asked what is your number one economic priority it is economic stability and it was for the Thatcher government. And as well as being right our tax policy is popular."
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