It makes sense to fund degree apprenticeships in the same way as the rest of higher education rather than as a charge on employers via the Apprenticeship Levy which should be focussed on much more deserving cases
Fiscal Conservatism means tough effective management of the public finances. That has historically meant some tax rises at the start, like in 1979 and 2010. Labour’s catastrophic mistake of ruling out increases in all three of the main taxes should not be repeated.
There is a sort of base level fairness measured not in calculations, broad shoulders and isolated cases but in a simple slogan – why should I pay for others to enjoy something I do not myself enjoy.
With another Budget just around the corner, all eyes will be on whether the Chancellor can make things better, or at the very least not make them much worse.
Well framed, across the board VAT simplification could have ten times the impact of abolishing stamp duty and un-gumming business generally, alongside the housing market, and is just what the country needs to start working again.
Families who rent from small landlords are not statistics. They are neighbours, friends, members of communities. Taxing and regulating responsible landlords out of the market is not just unfair, it is counterproductive.
In the commercial world, scarcity is seen as the mother of innovation, and the same opportunity exists with mayors. They need to be policy innovation leaders, trialling new ideas that can be scaled across the country.
Children brought up in poverty have worse life chances and educational opportunities. These effects will be with us for decades to come. The best way to save money is to look at the triple lock, the pension age and the winter fuel payment.
For the Conservatives to have any prospect of returning to government this never-ending cycle of temporary leaders needs to stop and whilst the parliamentary session is still young.
Both within sections of the Conservative Party and in much of the commentary on it, the distinction between word and deed has collapsed.
Populist non-mainstream politics thrives in places that are locked out of economic opportunity. The best solution to the rise of populism in and around big cities is to take what works for the most prosperous places, and spread this prosperity further to more of their neighbours.
One can hardly deny the chronic instability at the top of our party, but for the most part this hasn’t been caused by the rivalrous presence of an oven-ready successor.
This isn’t to besmirch the good intentions of the OBR’s staff. It is to point out that they are being asked to do an impossible job. The blame for this does not sit with the OBR but neither should it prevent us from abolishing the OBR altogether.
Tory MPs, staff and its younger activists are starting to acknowledge that the triple lock is unsustainable, and is now up for grabs.
Governments have been publishing ‘growth plans’ for decades, many of which gather dust on the shelves of the Treasury, and are quickly forgotten. The real challenge is not simply what to do – but how to get it done.