Javid could make sellers pay Stamp Duty

“Sajid Javid is considering a change to stamp duty that would switch the tax burden from buyers to sellers. It would ensure that first-time buyers never pay the tax and also help families buying bigger properties. However, it would result in larger tax bills for those who have benefited from soaring property prices and are looking to downsize. The plan is one of a number of tax changes under consideration for a budget later this year. In his first interview as chancellor, Mr Javid told The Times: “I’m a low-tax guy. I want to see simpler taxes.” He said that he was looking at various options when asked about stamp duty reforms including reversing liability from those buying property to those selling.” – The Times

• Chancellor says taxes could be cut for middle earners this autumn – Daily Telegraph
• ‘I’m a low-tax guy’ – Interview, The Times

More housing:

• Councils are ‘keeping developers waiting’ – The Times
• Outrage over Labour’s ‘garden tax’ – Daily Express

Comment:

• This plan could drive up house prices for all – Carol Lewis, The Times

‘Gaukeward Squad’ to meet to plot against Johnson…

“The so-called ‘Gaukeward Squad’ of Tory ministerial rebels will meet early next week to plot ways to stop a no deal Brexit. The Daily Telegraph has learned that a meeting has been scheduled between former Chancellor Philip Hammond and his former cabinet colleagues David Gauke, Greg Clark and Rory Stewart to discuss ways to thwart Boris Johnson’s do or die Brexit pledge with other rebel Tory MPs. It comes after they were among 20 remainer rebels who sent a letter to Mr Johnson earlier this week warning him that his demand for Brussels to scrap the Irish backstop had “set the bar so high that there is no realistic probability of a deal being done”.” – Daily Telegraph

• ‘Good chance’ that rebels will get ‘shock opportunity’ from the Speaker – Daily Express
• Cummings: first we’ll leave the EU, then we’ll smash Labour – The Times

…and Clarke ‘ready to lead unity government’…

“Ken Clarke has said he is willing to lead a government of national unity to stop a no-deal as he compared the Brexit impasse to the Second World War. Jo Swinson, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has suggested that either Mr Clarke or Harriet Harman, the veteran Labour MP, could serve as a caretaker prime minister. Mr Clarke, 79, who was chancellor under John Major, said that he had returned from a two-week holiday to discover he was being talked up as a potential prime minister. “If it was the only way in which the plain majority of the Commons, which is opposed to no-deal could find a way forward, I wouldn’t object to it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s PM.” – The Times

• The best Prime Minister we never had? Remainers want to find out – Asa Bennett, Daily Telegraph

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Brexit and No Deal. The Prime Minister has a policy, and a plan to deliver it. His opponents agree on neither.

…but key Tories refuse to back Labour leader…

“Splits in the anti-no deal alliance of MPs in parliament threatened to stymie plans to stop a no-deal Brexit on Friday, as Conservatives and independent MPs ruled out backing plans brokered by Jeremy Corbyn… Corbyn’s hopes of forming a unity government were fading on Friday as a number of prominent Conservatives working to stop no-deal Brexit ruled out any mechanism to put the Labour leader in No 10. Dominic Grieve, who has previously suggested he could vote against the government in a confidence vote, said he would not go as far as facilitating a Corbyn government.” – The Guardian

• Letwin won’t install Corbyn… – Daily Mail
• …and nor will Grieve – The Sun

>Today: John Strafford in Comment: The Grieve case raises a question. Do local Associations have the power not to reselect their Conservative MP?

>Yesterday: Iain Dale’s column: Don’t mention the war, please. Why Johnson was wrong to suggest Hammond and company are collaborators.

…amidst rumours that Corbyn is ‘plotting with Sturgeon’ to seize control of Brexit

“Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is plotting to use legislation in a bid to block a no deal Brexit if he fails to topple Boris Johnson’s Government via a no confidence vote. Mr Corbyn is thought to have had discussions with the SNP today about the possibility of passing a law which would extend Article 50, preventing Britain leaving the bloc as planned on at the end of October. A number of senior Labour figures believe the plan could win a majority in the House of Commons, the BBC has reported… BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley cited Labour sources as suggesting a no-confidence motion in Mr Johnson’s Government could run parallel to attempts to extend Article 50, with the latter being a fall-back option.” – Daily Express

• Labour leader risks ‘blowing up’ anti-Brexit alliance by lashing out at Swinson – Daily Mail
• ‘Good number’ of pro-Brexit Labour MPs ready to resist delaying Brexit – The Sun

More:

• Bogdanor claims UK could retroactively ‘not leave’ after October 31 – Daily Express
• Germany ‘expects No Deal’ and won’t renegotiate – The Times

>Today: ToryDiary: The real winners of this abortive ’emergency government’ could be the SNP

Matthew Parris: Any attempt to block No Deal rests on Corbyn

“Unless the overwhelming majority of Labour MPs stay rock solid behind whatever parliamentary procedure is chosen to stop Boris Johnson crashing Britain out of the EU, all is lost. Their solidarity remains a likelihood but not a certainty — and I’m worried that Jeremy Corbynhas this week been trying to muddy the waters. I cannot dispel a suspicion that in the coming struggle Mr Corbyn, or more importantly the tight-knit group who help steer his leadership, have cloudy intentions. On Brexit they have a history of triangulating and this week, by steering the question away from no-deal and towards who should be prime minister, they’re at it again.” – The Times

• Remain ultras are playing into Johnson’s hands – Stewart Jackson, Daily Telegraph
• No, the Prime Minister is no de Gaulle – Julian Jackson, FT
• MPs are wrong to think blocking Brexit will boost their career – Douglas Murray, The Sun

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