Couples are waiting later and later to have children due to the cost of living in many areas of the country – of which housing plays such a massive part. It is certainly encouraging to see action is being taken to reduce some barriers to building, but this should be done with more haste.
At the moment the Government takes the blame as the ultimate boss, whilst lacking many of the powers to put things right owing to the doctrine of independence.
There are many things that can be done to resist the tide. The first would be for ministers to make the philosophical case for where state responsibility ends, and personal responsibility starts.
Abolishing IHT would look extraordinarily out of touch to those struggling to pay their bills or worried about the state of the public services – and would undermine any claim to fiscal responsibility.
The committee’s report was thorough, but the sentence is disproportionate.
Party activists could be forgiven for wondering if he would now rather have Starmer in Downing Street than Sunak.
Such as: reductions for business, such capital allowances to promote investment. And reductions on earnings, such as cuts to National Insurance.
A final set of questions relates to whether, if we are going to spend £28 billion to improve economic growth, spending it on the green economy is the best way of doing so.
The seventh article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
Were Reeves to return to the UK without answers it would leave her open to accusation of engaging in a long-distance publicity stunt.
He could look again at short sentences. I wanted to scrap them – they are counter-productive in reducing reoffending and cause a great deal of disruption to prisons.
One might see this not as an aim to replace current fiscal prudence, but to ensure a greater focus on where public expenditure takes place. It’s more than a balance sheet or accounting exercise.
We kick off a ConservativeHome project on strong families, better schools and good jobs today – indispensable means of achieving a smaller state and a stronger society.
The first article in a new series on ConHome about how government might be made smaller, taxpayers better off and and society stronger – through strong families, better schools and good jobs.
In his Parliament of Whores, PJ O’Rourke gave one section the stirring title “Our Government: What The F*** Do They Do All Day And Why Does It Cost So Goddamned Much Money?” But as my research confirmed in various ways, most voters do not see government primarily as an expensive nuisance.