With Britain’s national debt interest ticking over at a rate of £6,017 per second the political agenda ahead of the upcoming general election is sharpening on cost cutting.

Traditionally political parties prefer to talk about spending rather than cuts – yet the national debt is so colossal that the debate on it is unavoidable.

After 12 years of Labour Party rule, the Conservatives look increasingly odds-on favourites to win the election with Gordon Brown’s party in disarray and the economy in recession.

Yet while the Tories are clearly ahead in the opinion polls, there is a sense they are light on policies, with critics calling them a policy-free zone, relying on the current government’s unpopularity to give them victory next year.

So this week’s Conservative party conference speech gave UK voters plenty of food for thought, as the party revealed its thinking behind getting the nation’s finances back in order.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne spoke of the need for major cuts in spending, to recoup £7bn a year in otherwise spending to help tackle the UK’s £175bn budget deficit.

It is rare for a politician seeking office to promise pain, but Osborne evidently calculates that this is necessary, even desirable, for him to be seen as a realist and someone to be trusted with the economy.

As well as cutting welfare benefits for the middle classes, Osborne called for a one-year freeze in public sector pay in 2011, saying it would help save public sector jobs.

Showing his populist credentials, he added that the pay freeze, would not apply to military personnel on active service or those earning less than £18,000 a year.

Pensions form a significant part of his planned savings, with the state pension age to rise to 66 from 2016 for men and 2020 for women.

And in another populist move, Osborne said he would look at imposing a £50,000 annual cap on the size of public sector pensions.

The initial media reaction to these promised sweeping cutbacks has been surprisingly positive.

Raising the state pension age is regarded as a sensible move, although employment lawyers now warn that the subject of a statutory retirement age is fast becoming a minefield, with more legal challenges to be expected.

And what sounds good at a party conference may be hard to implement in office.

Imposing a £50k cap on public sector pensions, for example, could add to the complexity of scheme administration so increasing running costs, just to police the pensions of a relatively small number of individuals.

A final, cynical thought is that moving the debate onto the subject of spending cuts suits the Conservatives.

Europe is threatening to rear its head as an election issue; Ireland has voted to accept the Lisbon treaty after previously voting no.

This means that the Conservative promise of a UK referendum on the treaty could be rendered redundant, as it may be fully ratified by the rest of the EU by the time of the next election.

By talking up domestic issues, the opposition may hope to avoid an issue on which they have stumbled in the past.