Given the resistance of Tory MPs to spending cuts and tax rises, Hammond’s easiest course would be to push any into the future. But this wouldn’t be problem-free…
Plus: the official measure of inflation should be changed; student funding requires reform; and the Chancellor must prepare for No Deal.
George Osborne made a bogeyman of buy-to-let landlords, but making it harder and more expensive to supply rental housing is deeply counter-productive.
Our take is that what matters to students at least as much as their finances in the future is their finances now. Miinisters should mull a universal maintenance loan.
The Prime Minister has a long story of progressive toryism to tell. Moral authority must not be conceded to Labour.
What really matters is proving that devolution has not stalled under Theresa May’s Brexit-focused government.
Its awards consume roughly a quarter of public spending. It is hard to see where the tax hikes or spending scaleback to fund them will come from if the Chancellor sticks to his guns.
The Electoral Reform Society calculates that a tiny change in votes would have given May a bare majority last spring. But how much difference would this have made?
The employment and unemployment rates are each at the best levels since the 1970s. But do voters care?
We can already see the damage being done to the Tory vote by the uncomfortable prospect of a near-permanent twilight state of austerity.
Rethink how we build communities. Scrap Osborne’s tax on landlords. And give more people the chance to own their home.
The news is not all bad for supporters of Leave. But a weakened Government needs third party support to deliver not so much a Soft or Hard Brexit as a clean one.
His Mansion House speech offered an opportunity to shift the tone of Brexit policy towards openness, liberalism, free trade and responsible capitalism.
The Social Market Foundation isn’t tied to any party. We’re centrists – our advice and ideas on offer to anyone who wants to put common sense ahead of ideology.