The Government can’t deliver levelling up without more supply-side change, localism and public service reform.
Plus: Say what you like about Trump, but he had a better slogan than Clinton. And: Sunak’s budget was disappointing.
The Budget was, if truly honest, a sign that the Government shuns spending cuts and embraces tax rises – which is ultimately unsustainable.
The Prime Minister listened supportively, but jiggled his right knee up and down in a manner suggestive of unbearable mental tension.
Conservative messaging implies an implicit belief that there are no major state functions ripe for reform in any fiscal repair.
It will probe whether or or not Sunak can prepare the country for that future – and perhaps succeed Johnson himself, “one fine day”.
But Dodds also says that she “would be concerned at additional taxes on businesses right now, clamping down on confidence in our recovery.”
We need to have a debate about which taxes are least damaging to economic growth. Over the long term, corporation tax ranks as being one of the worst.
Plus: Have you got your popcorn ready for Salmond’s appearance before a committee of the Scottish Parliament this lunchtime?
One of an occasional series of articles that ConservativeHome is publishing in advance of the Budget.
Modest consolidation over decades is one thing; large increases over a Parliament would be quite another.
Lockdown has taken a significant toll on the younger generation, and we need help to make up for lost time.
Evidence does not suggest Britain is at the sweet spot on the Laffer Curve where raising it will cut revenue, nor that doing so will harm investment.