Budget tax cuts would be disingenuous. Any headroom would be based on earlier tax hikes and further increases and cuts after the election. But are Tory MPs at all interested in the long-term sustainability of the public finances?
I hope the British public get an answer. Because these are highly consequential decisions about the future shape of the state. £28 billion is £4 billion more than the annual Home Office budget.
Voters believe four of the Government’s five key pledges are more likely to happen under Labour than the Conservatives. Meanwhile, 2019 Tory voters prioritise spending on public services over tax cuts,
We are fed up with being controlled by its incorrect forecasts, and subject to wild policy swings by the Bank of England which did much to give us inflation in the first place.
Even as it is, we have been fortunate riots that have proven a rarity. Cut 6.7 per cent a year from the budget and they become almost an inevitability.
He will probably judge it better to keep a conservative spending message and dial down on the more radical green growth programme. Which would require her to make a painful U-turn.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
The second part of our series on reducing demand for government, in which we set out a programme for change – focused on families, civil society and government.
The demographic tide can’t be turned back, but its advance can be slowed – by the self-reinforcing triangle of stronger families, better schools, good jobs, and the stronger society that these help to build.
In his Parliament of Whores, PJ O’Rourke gave one section the stirring title “Our Government: What The F*** Do They Do All Day And Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?” But as my research confirmed in various ways, most voters do not see government primarily as an expensive nuisance.
Maybe the future isn’t Leavers v Remainers, or even Conservative v Labour. Perhaps its truth v post-truth – Rowling v Dorries. I’m with Rowling. You?
It really should not need pointing out but it is less than a year ago that the UK became an international laughing stock when we pursued a policy of unfunded tax cuts and spooked the markets.
Were Reeves to return to the UK without answers it would leave her open to accusation of engaging in a long-distance publicity stunt.
In terms of fiscal policy, if the wider economic picture does not allow the debt to GDP ratio to fall, then the focus of the markets will be on the need to keep the public finances in shape.
A remarkable amount has been achieved. Often against the odds and in the face of adversity. And certainly in circumstances far less benign than those faced by New Labour.