David Cameron rules out mansion tax and plans further welfare cuts David Cameron has rejected Liberal Democrat calls for a mansion tax as part of efforts to tackle the deficit, but vowed that the rich would "pay their fair share." In comments set to stoke tensions within the coalition government, Cameron used an interview before the Conservative party's annual conference in Birmingham to confirm that further welfare cuts were up for grabs - something that Nick Clegg said he would permit only if wealth taxes were imposed on the rich. But Cameron ruled out the prospect of a mansion tax, echoing George Osborne's insistence that the coalition would not implement wealth taxes, on the grounds that they would be unfair. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Osborne described the demands for a wealth tax as "the politics of resentment." Cameron said on BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I don't actually believe we should be a country where if you work hard, you save, you buy yourself a house, you try and pay down the mortgage, you save and invest into that house - I don't want to be a country that comes after you every year with a massive great tax, and so that is not going to happen, but we have put extra taxes where people buy expensive properties. Now I'm not going to announce the measures here on your programme - I know that's sad for you - but we will always be fair and seen to be fair. Cameron said his party would level with the public about the need for another £16bn of spending cuts in 2015-16. "We have to find these spending reductions and if we want to avoid cuts in things like hospitals and schools, services that we all rely on, we have to look at things like the welfare budget," he said. He identified "working age welfare" as an area for reduction and vowed to stand by his pre-election promise to protect universal benefits for pensioners such as free bus passes and winter fuel payments. He defended the decision to cut the "completely uncompetitive" top rate of tax, saying that four times as much was being raised from the richest by measures such as putting a new stamp duty on expensive houses, and tackling tax avoidance and evasion. But he made clear: "We will make sure that the rich pay their fair share ... We are going to take further action to make sure the wealthiest people in our country pay their fair share towards deficit reduction." The slogan for the conference is "Britain can deliver," and the party will seek to reconnect with "striving" families facing tough times in the economic climate by unveiling a freeze on council tax for a third successive year. The Sunday Telegraph reported that the government would set a cap on rises in season ticket and peak rail fares at no more than 1% over the inflation rate in 2013 and 2014, lower than the formula set out in Osborne's 2010 spending review. Asked whether the economy was finally recovering from its double-dip recession, Cameron said he could not comment on day-to-day growth because "I'm not an economic forecaster," but he said the economy was "rebalancing," with a net 1 million jobs added in the private sector in the past two years. The prime minister is expected to make clear he has no intention of dropping his austerity policies, echoing a former Tory leader's famous "the lady is not for turning" conference vow. He said it was too early to say whether the government would miss its key target for public sector debt to be falling by 2015. Turning to Europe, the prime minister backed Theresa May's call for a review of the free movement of EU labour as part of a broader assessment of Britain's relationship with Europe. I believe in the single market, I believe in free movement, but two weeks ago I visited two factories in a week and I asked the question: 'How many people do you employ from other EU countries? What's the balance?' In one it was 60%, in the other it was 50%. Now, heavens above, we have got so many unemployed people in our country that we want to train and educate and give apprenticeships to and get back into work," Cameron said. I think it's absolutely right to look at this balance of competencies, to go through every topic and see what is in Britain's interests. But we're not going to wait for that: We've already capped immigration from outside the EU on economic grounds. We're shutting down the bogus colleges which Labour allowed to go on for year after year, where people weren't coming to study, they were just coming to work. He signalled an attempt to renegotiate Britain's relationship with Europe, rather than committing to an in/out referendum should the next general election return a Conservative government. I think the trouble with a straight yes or no, as we stand today, is frankly I'm not happy with the status quo, so I don't want to have to say yes to the status quo, but I also don't think it would be right to leave like that, because we would basically be coming out of a single market, which our businesses badly need. I think that Ukip is a complete waste of time, obviously, but the fact is I think most people in our country don't actually want to leave the European Union or just accept how it is at the moment, they want to change it. I want to change it. A Conservative-only government after the next election can go and change it, can have that renegotiation, particularly as you see Europe opening up in all the ways that I've explained. He threatened to wield his veto if the next European budget saw "massive increases." I'm not going to lay out my negotiating strategy in front of you, Andrew, but let me be clear. People in Europe know I mean what I say. I sat around that table, 27 countries, 26 of them signing up to a treaty, and I said: 'This is not in Britain's interests, I don't care how much pressure you put on, this is not happening, we're not signing it.' They know I'm capable of saying no, and if we don't get a good deal I'll say no again. He suggested there should be two EU budgets: one for the 17 eurozone countries and a "wider budget" for everyone else. " Now I don't think we'll achieve that this time, but it's an indicator of the way Europe's going, and we should be welcoming of this," he said.