During this Budget run-up, many of those I met raised business rates as a killer, plus council tax, the apprenticeship levy, parking charges and corporation tax, too.
“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.
Her domestic policy impact could stretch for some years beyond her premiership – especially given the briefing yesterday of “an end to austerity”.
It was May’s best conference speech as Conservative leader. But her One Nation pitch could be too late to save her.
She unwittingly legitimised unrealistic Brexit expectations and Corbyn’s economic argument.
It works best when painting a substantive contrast on issues that voters care about. And here are four strategic choices for the Conservatives.
They are a stealth tax on the sick, the vulnerable, on families, and our hard-working NHS employees. And nearly 50 per cent of hospitals charge blue-badge holders.
It is the spending that needs to be controlled and reduced, rather than taxes increased yet further.
Penny Mordaunt, Liz Truss, Dan Hannan, Liam Halligan, Steve Baker, Tom Tugendhat & others will speak. And there’s a special discount for ConHome readers.
This fiscal rule would leave governments free to borrow for infrastructure investments – but day-to-day spending would be paid through your and my taxes.
DfID and the MoD are most effective when they work together, not when they fight one another for resources.
Our new, outcome-focused, and patient-centric plans fit into a long tradition of careful Conservative stewardship of the Health Service.
Though by demanding that America’s allies spend more on their own defence, the President is unwittingly doing us a favour.
FREER’s new paper on blockchain highlights just some of the ways we can make government more efficient – and free up funding for health and defence.
The Comprehensive Spending Review has to be seen as a way to reset the narrative. Government need to focus on reform as a positive – not expenditure.