* Darling to outline spending plans before poll -report
* Darling quoted saying he didn't want to raise income tax
LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - The British government will give voters more details of its spending plans before a national election due by next June, finance minister Alistair Darling was quoted on Saturday as saying.
The Daily Telegraph said Darling also raised the possibility, in an interview with the newspaper, of reversing a planned increase in income tax for high earners to 50 percent.
"Looking into the future, I would like to be able to reduce tax. Raising the top rate is something I didn't want to do," he was quoted as saying.
The rise in the top rate from 40 percent is due to take effect from next April.
The opposition Conservatives have accused Britain's ruling Labour Party of not being honest with voters over spending cuts that will be required to rein in a public sector deficit that has ballooned because of the recession.
The Daily Telegraph said Darling indicated there could be a "pared-down spending review", setting out the government's future spending plans, before the election.
"No political party can stand before the electorate and say 'Vote for me and I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to do, good or bad.' No one would dream of doing that. Both political parties will have to set out their stalls. We'll have to do it," Darling was quoted as saying.
"Now I'm very clear that we do have to tell people the lie of the land. People will understand there are uncertainties but we do have to set out our stall," he said.
The Daily Telegraph said Darling left the door "wide open" to a spending review, which typically sets out government spending plans over three years.
A detailed package would be impossible to draw up because of uncertainty over how much cash will be available, the newspaper quoted Darling as saying.
But it said Darling expected to be able to give an idea, perhaps in a pared-down spending review, before the election.
A streamlined version would focus on key departments such as health and education, the newspaper said.
It said Darling was not prepared to say what, if anything, might be ring-fenced against cuts at this stage. But it said he promised, nearer the election, to be more specific about what could and what could not be preserved.
PUBLIC SPENDING TO BE TIGHTER THAN IN PAST
"Public spending will be tighter than it has been in the past," he was quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said last week now was not the right time for a spending review because of uncertainty about the economy.
A Treasury spokesman said at the time departmental budgets were set until April 2011 and Darling would return to these issues at the pre-budget report, usually issued in November.
The Daily Telegraph said Darling believed that as overall public spending has risen sharply in recent years, there is scope for reductions.
He was quoted as saying that the Treasury was carrying out a review of departmental spending that covered about half of all government spending. "They have been told to assume they are not getting another penny out of me," Darling said.
Darling also expects no further rebellion against Brown's leadership of the Labour Party after Brown put down a revolt in June. "It would be pretty stupid. People have got to get real and start facing a general election," he said. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Anthony Barker)