Economic competence has been the cornerstone of the Conservative appeal. Remove that cornerstone and the entire structure becomes fragile.
Of course, many of the sacked ministers – Fallon, Mitchell, Shapps and a dozen others are hoping for preferment under a Boris administration.
The then EU Budget Commissioner told me that giving control of this funding to national governments would make it subject to “democratic whim”.
I welcome the suggestion that local Associations should follow the lead that the National Convention took last weekend.
Just asking.
At the same time as putting in more money, there must be a credible plan to spend it effectively – including improvements to how care is delivered.
After our recent series asked ‘What should Tories tax?’, the Adam Smith Institute’s Head of Research kicks off a new mini-series seeking routes to lower taxes.
Ignoring the family unit means pressures on benefits – and burdening some poorer families with the highest effective marginal tax rate in the developed world.
If the Conservative Party can be saved by good-humoured moderation, the First Secretary of State will provide it.
Between 1997 and 2005, public sector spending rose from £336 billion to £517 billion a year. But its output has increased little, so its productivity has fallen dramatically.
The Chancellor has not always been well treated by his neighbour, and deserves support over public spending. But he has mishandled his internal position over Brexit.
Hammond wants no longer to treat it as a second Budget-style political opportunity. That may turn out to be better in principle than in practice.
As the tenth anniversary of the 2010 election approaches, the author says that Labour’s own austerity record and plans were almost as tough as the Coalition’s.