Newslinks for Wednesday 25th November 2020

Spending Review 1) Sunak targets Covid-19 jobless with £4.3bn support package

“Rishi Sunak is to acknowledge that the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a steep rise in long-term unemployment today when he announces a £4.3 billion package to help the jobless. The economic devastation will be made clear in a series of forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) alongside the Whitehall spending round. The Resolution Foundation, a think tank, has suggested that the central forecast will show a permanent reduction in GDP of 3 per cent, equivalent to £1,000 a head. Government borrowing will be close to £400 billion this year as public spending jumps above 50 per cent of GDP, a level not seen since the Second World War, and the national debt reaches a 60-year high.” – The Times

• The cost of Covid is predicted to rise to £400 billion by the end of the year – Daily Telegraph

> Today:

• ToryDiary: There is more at stake in any push to cut the 0.7 per cent target than the future of aid policy
• Ryan Bourne’s column: Calm down, stay cool – and drop this talk of tax rises. It’s too early to know how everything will settle down.
• Liam Fox’s comment: Today, the Chancellor should aim to boost an unambiguously private sector-led recovery

Spending Review 2) Treasury ‘considering’ cutting pensions tax relief

“Millions of higher earners could be hundreds of thousands of pounds worse off in retirement if the Government targets pension tax relief to plug the growing hole in Treasury coffers. The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly reconsidering proposals to limit tax relief on pension contributions to 25pc for all workers as part of a desperate attempt to reduce the deficit which is forecast to hit almost £400bn this year. An announcement is not expected as part of today’s Spending Review, which does not cover changes to tax policy, but could feature in a future Budget. The move would put those on middle and higher incomes in the crosshairs for cuts while boosting the amount received by basic-rate taxpayers, all those earning less than £50,000 in the current tax year.” – Daily Telegraph

Spending Review 3) Parliament ready to resist Sunak’s bid to cut foreign aid

“Rishi Sunak’s bid to cut foreign aid could be thwarted in Parliament as it emerged that legislation may be required to enable the £4 billion reduction to go ahead. On Tuesday night, senior Tories warned the Government would have “serious problems” forcing through the planned reduction of the target from 0.7 per cent of national income to 0.5 per cent. Mr Sunak is expected to confirm the 12-month cut in Wednesday’s comprehensive spending review, arguing that a brief cut to overseas aid is justified at a time of severe economic hardship at home. However, while exemptions in the International Development Act allow the Government to miss the target in certain circumstances, critics argue that these can only apply retrospectively.” – Daily Telegraph

• Chancellor will reassure that the move is ‘temporary’ – FT

Daniel Finkelstein: Is Sunak savvy enough to be prime minister?

“Not long after the first lockdown began, a friend offered me his congratulations. “What for?” I asked. “In 2015 I asked you which new Conservative MPs were going places,” he said, “and you replied ‘Rishi Sunak’.” I told him that much as I’d love to accept his praise for my political acuity, I really couldn’t. The only difference between us in 2015 was that I had met Rishi Sunak and he hadn’t. Any idiot with this advantage would have made the same prediction. A knack for talent spotting was not required. This is how the Conservative businessman Michael Ashcroft describes Sunak in Going for Broke, his new biography of the chancellor: “Clever and talented, immensely hard-working, ambitious, eager to learn, disciplined, always well prepared.” He then adds the words used about him by the people interviewed for the book: “authentic, humble, approachable, gentle, modest, friendly, empathetic, thoughtful, respectful, sensitive, a listener.”” – The Times

• Johnson looks worn down, but the ‘Boris effect’ may yet return, Rafael Behr – The Guardian
• Protecting London’s economy simply isn’t possible if the city enters Tier 3, Shaun Bailey – Daily Telegraph
• Keener than a terrier on two breakfasts, Jeremy Hunt got stuck into Matt Hancock, Henry Deedes – Daily Mail
• All power to your Elbows, Quentin Letts – The Times
• The Government’s new tier system risks becoming just another lockdown trap, Kate Andrews – Daily Telegraph
• Guided? Following? Down the Covid rabbit hole with Hancock, John Crace – The Guardian
• The colossal cost of infrastructure is a British disease nobody can cure, Philip Johnston – Daily Telegraph
• To counter China, Britain needs a digital currency, Mark Lyall Grant – The Times
• As a former aid worker, I know that handouts are the wrong way to help the world’s poorest, Sarah Dusek – Daily Telegraph
• Brexit stems from a civil war in capitalism – we are all just collateral damage, George Monbiot – The Guardian
• Covid restrictions show what we’re really like, Joanna Williams – The Times
• Putin’s mobster regime is running out of time, Roger Boyes – The Times

Coronavirus 1) Rules relaxed for Christmas…

“Families will be allowed to meet two other households in a “Christmas bubble” under a five-day relaxation of social distancing rules. They can travel freely around Britain from December 23 to 27 under a “limited and cautious” exemption from restrictions agreed between Westminster and the devolved administrations. Social distancing rules will not apply within bubbles, allowing loved ones to hug each other. However, official advice will urge people to “think carefully about what they do during this period” and take precautions to avoid infecting vulnerable relatives. Government scientific advisers have warned that the relaxation will cost lives and risk a third lockdown in January and hospital chiefs say it is premature.” – The Times

• Coronavirus quarantine to be lifted for business and tour groups – The Times

Coronavirus 2) …as Tories question the logic of the Tier system

“MPs have argued that the new tiers lack “clarity” and will serve to do more damage to the economy. Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said the measures needed to be more specific. “We don’t have the clarity. The tiers that are being envisaged, particularly the even more stringent Tier 3, would be extremely damaging for places that find themselves locked in it,” he told The World at One show. Asked whether he would vote against further tiered restrictions, Sir Graham said: “I don’t know yet what the substance of the votes that will be offered will be, but my inclination would be to oppose this.” – Daily Telegraph

• The Government will announce tomorrow which Tier applies to each area – The Times
• Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne, rages at “disgraceful” police as they arrest lockdown protestor – Daily Mail

Coronavirus 3) Hancock overruled officials to order millions of extra vaccines, says Shapps…

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