Yes, some rises are inevitable. But they must be balanced by spending reductions elsewhere if economic policy is to be practicable and coherent.
Plus: Boles was right (first time round) on Gaza. The Dambusters raid anniversary. A Tory poll lead. Plus: a man and a woman will marry in Windsor on Saturday.
Speculation about pressure on Williamson, or calculation about Cabinet numbers, misses a key point: May must keep Davis and Fox onside.
We published an article by the former Minister trailing his new book, and will be linking to each of its chapters as they are released.
41 per cent say spending should rise further and be funded by a specific hike, while 44 per cent oppose the idea.
Plus: Gauke’s failure, UKIP chaos, Salmond’s Russia Today shame, Corbyn’s anti-semitism debacle…and an invitation if you live near Bath.
If she really is to “dedicate my premiership” to fixing housing growth and home ownership, she will need to throw a chunk of her caution to the winds.
Conservatives should restate the moral case for taxation and at the same time find innovative ways of revenue raising that are both popular and effective.
Boles isn’t as well known as the star of our Moggcast, but he is well-briefed, independent-minded and can make waves.
His tour of universities raises memories of another – that of by Keith Joseph, whose hundreth birthday would have fallen this week. It needs a modern equivalent.
But the collapse of the Tory manifesto social care plan, plus the Government’s lack of a workable Commons majority, all but rule out radical change to the system.
Is there a national collection of staff ideas? Are Whitehall teams working together? What conversations are being held with housebuilders? There’s so much to be done.
Yes, we need a resource shift to technical education. But the loss of the Tory majority last June will make it very slow going.
“We need to give it its own clear funding stream that is then permanently separate. For all its flaws, is almost the only bit of the British state that is genuinely loved.”