Growth is as much a political problem as it is an economic one. We need to spend vastly more time thinking about the trade-offs and compromises required to achieve it, how to sequence reforms, and which battles to pick and when.
Last week, Jeremy Hunt took important first steps toward solving three serious problems: the system’s anti-family bias, too much disparity in how earned and unearned income is treated, and absurd marginal rates.
Rishi Sunak should build on the recent progress in Northern Ireland to impress upon Dublin the urgency of stepping up our efforts to counter Russian, Chinese, and Iranian threats to our joint security.
Victims are taken seriously and placed at the centre of the system. My proudest achievement has been the establishment of an excellent victims’ hub called Beacon which ensures that all victims of crime in Hertfordshire get the support they need. This gain has not been won easily.
According to YouGov, the Party commands a plurality of voters only among the over 70s. As far as voting intention is concerned, the Conservative Party is literally dying on its feet.
The main focus of industrial policy should be on non-selective measures which do not discriminate between industries, and these measures should be implemented consistently and predictably
If James Cleverly thinks he can light the touch paper, walk away, and watch the fireworks, he is very much mistaken. If the ban on HuT is to have any effect, it will be necessary in the coming weeks and months to get into the weeds of HuT, its leaders, and its footsoldiers.
It is important not to mistake the salience of high-profile controversies as a sign that the system is failing; indeed it often is the exact opposite. As a sign of the effectiveness of the current regime, look no further than the premiership of Boris Johnson.
Of course, children have a right to a voice, but protests should be occurring at the weekend or in holidays – not on school time.
Reviewing Rishi Sunak’s legislative programme, one becomes aware of a government studiously committed to batting out time, and which places its hopes for re-election not in legislative innovation, but in crossing its fingers and hoping for an economy recovery.
You’d have thought it in jest if you’d been told that for £50 per citizen, a “Taskforce” drawn from the private sector would operate with a degree of independence from Whitehall, take risks and secure 357 million vaccine doses in nine months – all under-budget.
His life and works appears to have little influence at the top of the current Conservative Party, and among the wider membership and the British public. But it seems that in those countries where Scruton went behind the Iron Curtain, his work and life is not just remembered, he is still actively saving minds.
There are many things that can be done to resist the tide. The first would be for ministers to make the philosophical case for where state responsibility ends, and personal responsibility starts.
I doubt that the KlimaSeniorinnen judgment will help states better address climate change – but it certainly helps seal the case for states to withdraw from the ECHR.