The key problem is stagnation. Margaret Thatcher’s reforms promoted mobility and opportunity. Now we are an economy which doesn’t change enough.
Monday’s speech and today’s announcement show them choosing their ground for the next election. And since Hunt may find no money for further tax cuts next spring, the option of a May general election is opening up.
We don’t want our children to grow up in a stultified, caste society where the only way to wealth and opportunity is to inherit it from parents.
It is younger home owners who are proportionately most exposed to the costs of higher mortgages in relation to their incomes and the value of their houses.
Blair said that he wanted Britain “to be a young country again”. It wasn’t one then and isn’t one now. There is a fittingness in King Charles being the oldest monarch ever to take our throne.
His plan for 2024 is to say: “I may not be most exciting politician in the world. But I’m the more reliable of the two before you. What I promise I then deliver.” It’s unlikely to be enough on its own.
Imagine that every day a British Minister dealt with their counterparts in Germany or France, they observed that their own living standards were 25 per cent lower (the gap for Britain’s poorest compared with those two countries).
A party in office for fourteen at the likely time of the general election will find it hard to escape being held responsible for all that’s gone wrong. This can result in a vicious circle of unpopularity leading to division leading to greater unpopularity.
Policy Exchange proposes a Tiered Energy Relief Scheme: restructuring household energy bills for a six-month period, saving the average household up to £936, at a nationwide cost ceiling of £26.6 billion.
People need a sense of hope and optimism about their prospects. And one of the best ways for the new Prime Minister to deliver that credibly is indeed to show how they will grow the innovations which will make life better.
But the Labour Party chairman is “concerned that there doesn’t seem to be any plan to deal with the causes of the cost of living crisis”.
Above all, to what extent will he present a clear plan and message? My starter for ten is “help hard-working people and go for more growth”.
The shock-absorber is a looser fiscal policy. Although the budget deficit is higher than one would like, the good news is that it is falling sharply.
The barrage of letters and calls that some people struggling to make ends meet are receiving is causing grave distress —in some cases, it is even contributing to people becoming suicidal.