Setback for Cameron as deputy treasurer resigns

David Cameron's political fightback suffered a setback when a prominent businessman resigned as a Tory deputy treasurer over fears the party has shifted to the right.

Johan Eliasch, the boss of the Head sports equipment firm and an environmental campaigner, has lent the Tories £2.6m. It is believed that under the terms of the loan, he has to give only 30 days notice for it to be repaid – a move that could give the Tories a big financial headache.

His departure will be seized on by Labour, which has accused Mr Cameron of a "lurch to the right" after he raised traditional Tory issues such as immigration, tax cuts and law and order in recent weeks.

Friends of Mr Eliasch, a co-founder of the Cool Earth green campaign group, said he believed Mr Cameron's decision to move away from a more consensual approach to politics because Gordon Brown had turned out to be a better than expected opponent was a "mistake". They said he believed "this move to the right is not the correct thing to do".

The timing of the resignation is bad for the Tories, who launch an offensive today aimed at reassuring voters they would not cut public spending.

George Osborne, the shadow Chancellor, promised to match Labour's spending plans for the next four years to ensure "real increases" in spending of 2 per cent each year on top of inflation. Writing in today's Times newspaper, he says: "The charge from our opponents that we will cut services becomes transparently false." He added: "There will be no election promises of up-front, un-funded tax cuts. Any reduction we offer in one tax will have to be matched by a tax rise elsewhere."