Universal Credit where Universal Credit is due

If the Budget choice this year is between supporting the new system or raising tax thresholds, the answer is a no brainer.

Osborne raided Universal Credit budgets, but it’s Hammond who is suffering the hangover

The prospect of millions of families losing out financially makes ministers jittery – as, presumably, those briefing the press intend.

Canadians v Norwegians. How the Cabinet lines up on alternatives to Chequers.

For all the talk of May being pushed towards a Canada-type deal, there is currently no majority around the top table for any Chequers alternative.

The “end of austerity” must not mean a return to the bad old days of Brownite mismanagement

“Austerity” has been blurred and misused as a term. If everyone takes its end as a promise of whatever they fancy, it will soon get costly and risky.

Bridges in Birmingham

This strangely unreal conference is a kind of passage between the stymied Chequers plan…and whatever happens next.

Andrew Gimson’s Conference Sketch: Those who have no stomach for Hammond’s fight go to sleep

The Chancellor of the Exchequer dared to be dull as he set out the economic facts of life and stuck to the Chequers plan.

WATCH: Chancellor – “Tusk says the Chequers Plan won’t work. But that’s what people said about the lightbulb in 1878.”

“Our job is to prove him wrong. Over the next few weeks we must stand together four-square behind the PM to get the best possible outcome for Britain.”

“I am an optimist. I am an enthusiast for the change that is coming.” Hammond’s Conference speech, full text

“When the Prime Minister gets a deal agreed there will be a boost to our economic growth, a Deal Dividend which we will share, in line with our balanced approach.”

Our Next Tory Leader survey. Javid is up and Johnson down slightly – but the latter retains a double-figure lead.

No other entrant has more than ten per cent of the vote, though Hunt is almost there.

Iain Dale’s Top 100 Most Influential People on the Conservative Right

In all, there are 30 new entries in the whole list, one down on last year and two down on the 2016 record of 33.

Cabinet League Table: Javid is top again – just. He leads a soaring Hunt by a single point.

The Foreign Secretary’s score is up by 20 points. Grayling now brings up the rear – and Bradley is in the red.

James Frayne: Is a Nappy Tax coming soon? How Hammond may raise more revenue when his Budget comes.

Public health and environmental health look the likeliest sources. Shifting everyone to the equivalent of PAYE and taxing the biggest businesses must also be targets.

Welby’s next stop should be a small business conference

His TUC account of the harm that some businesses can do should be balanced by one of the good that more do – and by projecting a personal theology of wealth creation.

Charlotte Salomon: Is it time to let the high street die?

Big retail hasn’t adapted to the new world of e-commerce after 20 years – and it’s doubtful whether it ever will.

Lewis and Davidson both suffer a Boris burka backlash in our Cabinet League Table

Meanwhile, Hammond’s approval rating plumbs new depths – as Fox and Raab gain ground after criticising the Treasury’s Brexit forecasts.