Tory Right demands that David Cameron vows to slash top tax rate from 45p to 40p John Redwood has role of feeding backbenchers' demands into manifesto But some Tories fear a pledge would confirm 'millionaires' mates' jibe Key role: Thatcherite ex-minister John Redwood is leading calls for a pledge to call the top rate of income tax in the Tories' next election manifesto David Cameron is under intense pressure to put radical tax cuts at the heart of his drive for re-election. Tory Right-wingers are demanding the Prime Minister proves his low-tax credentials by pledging to slash the top rate of income tax from 45p to 40p. The call comes after senior figures â€" including Thatcherite ex-Minister John Redwood â€" gained a key role in drawing up policies for the partyâ€™s next General Election manifesto. Mr Redwood, given the job of feeding the demands of backbenchers into the manifesto, is set to make a cut to a 40p top rate the core of his proposals. He is also expected to want â€˜a signal to be sentâ€™ that if Mr Cameron wins, he will make even deeper income tax cuts in the future. The move comes just two weeks after the Prime Minister left the door open to lowering the top rate, claiming the reduction from 50p to 45p already made had been worth the political pain inflicted on the party. But in a sign of bitter policy battles ahead, other Tory MPs raised fears that a firm pledge would confirm Labourâ€™s jibe that the Tories were the â€˜millionairesâ€™ matesâ€™. One senior Tory MP said: â€˜Cutting the top rate is toxic for us. Weâ€™ve all been surprised by the reaction to the 50p cut. It was the right thing to do but itâ€™s allowed Labour to paint us as the rich manâ€™s friend and to an extent, thatâ€™s sticking.â€™ Another predicted that Chancellor George Osborne would focus instead on people earning between Â£25,000 and Â£40,000 by raising income tax thresholds. The MP said: â€˜Everyone agrees with tax cuts but thereâ€™s little chance of us going into the next Election with a firm, timetabled pledge to slash the top rate.â€™ The dramatic tax call comes as the Tories step up their drive to produce eye-catching policies for the 2015 poll with the aim of winning an outright majority. Last week, Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi, a member of Downing Streetâ€™s policy board, highlighted the scale of the radical thinking going on behind the scenes when he used an article in The Mail on Sunday to call for benefits to be restricted to the first two children in each family. Mr Redwood, a former head of Thatcherâ€™s Downing Street policy unit who challenged John Major for the party leadership in the 1990s, is chairman of the backbench 1922â€™s economic policy committee. The body will meet in the New Year to draw up a list of ideas for the manifesto. Sources say these are also expected to include demands for a cut in capital gains tax to 20 per cent, plus other Thatcherite ideas such as wider share ownership. The move comes just two weeks after the Prime Minister, pictured, left the door open to lowering the top rate, claiming the reduction from 50p to 45p already made had been worth the political pain inflicted on the party A further four policy committees â€" on foreign affairs, public services, the environment and home affairs â€" will also meet next year. Their conclusions will then be fed into the manifesto-writing process, which is being overseen by Tory MP Jo Johnson, the head of David Cameronâ€™s policy unit. Labour has relentlessly attacked Mr Cameron for the decision to reduce the top rate from 50p to 45p, including a poster campaign: â€˜Who wants to bung a millionaire? Dave does.â€™ But in an interview this month, the Prime Minister mounted a staunch defence of the move. He said: â€˜I knew we would get attacked for it, but the evidence was so strong that cutting the top rate of tax would probably result in more revenue. You canâ€™t not do something because youâ€™re going to be attacked. Thatâ€™s feeble politics.â€™