By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter George Osborne deals a double whammy to supporters of property taxes in the Mail on Sunday today: Pow! "We are not going to have a mansion tax, or a new tax that is a percentage value of people’s properties". Biff! New Council tax bands would be a "tax snoopers […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Last week, the Duke of Westminster retired from his position as Deputy Commander Army Reserves. The Duke had previously served as the Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff with responsibility for Reserves and Cadets, and had served in the Territorial Army for many years and several wars – first […]
By Benjamin DisraeliYou cannot follow Lord Beaconsfield on Twitter, since he hasn't a clue what it is. I cannot deny that my grasp of public affairs is not as sure as it might be since, for reasons that readers of this publication will understand, I am presently incapable of taking my seat in the House […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has written for the Mail on Sunday today – apparently not online – attacking the Scottish National Party for trying to "buy support for independence" through benefits like free bus passes, tution fees, prescriptions, and a council tax freeze – and has […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Until the reshuffle, Patrick McLoughlin had been a whip for 15 years, serving six leaders, and two Prime Ministers – which explains why his media appearances have been few and far between. In his first big interview since being appointed Secretary of State for Transport, Mr McLoughlin has denied […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. "Boris isn’t shy about lobbing grenades across the political landscape", as my colleague Peter Hoskin noted earlier this week. Sometimes he seems to want to cause controversy, sometimes he seems to want to grab attention – and sometimes, as Tory activists admire him for, he says what senior Conservatives […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter It's always called Ken Clarke's golden legacy but, in reality, Norman Lamont laid most of the foundations for the strong economy that Gordon Brown inherited in 1997. And don't just take my word for it. Ruth Lea made the case for Norman Lamont in a CPS paper. Lamont's policies […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Yesterday, on LeftWatch, Matthew Barrett ran a rolling blog, listing the ways in which senior Liberal Democrats, including Cabinet ministers, were attacking the Conservatives. It's the same at every Lib Dem conference, of course. Chris Huhne and Tim Farron were at it last year. I Tweeted about this yesterday […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter George Osborne wanted to move Iain Duncan Smith from Work and Pensions, and failed. Ken Clarke was moved to take up a roving economic brief, thus gaining a licence to meddle in the Chancellor's affairs. The reshuffle even brought some distressing family news: Lord Howell, Mr Osborne's father in […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter As the Government's problems mount I note that some of the commentators most supportive of the Cameron project have been penning defences of the Coalition's economic policies in general and of the Chancellor in particular. Matthew Parris did so on Saturday. In yesterday's London Evening Standard Matt d'Ancona said […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter It's not unreasonable to see Nick Clegg's call for an emergency tax on Britain's wealthiest people as (i) another attempt by him to shore up his beleagured position within a very unhappy party and (ii) another sign that the Coalition will drift to the Left. Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Four weeks ago Matthew Parris asked: Why are Tory MPs so "unbelievably lily-livered and flaky"? He was thinking of their failure to back the Chancellor's austerity measures. He returns to the theme today, hurling his keyboard at the "perfect idiots" on the Tory backbenchers who, he says, are "economic […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Iain Duncan Smith has found an interesting way to trim spending on winter fuel payments. The Daily Telegraph today reports the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions' decision to impose a "temperature test" on pensioners (his exact words were that he would "protect taxpayers’ money and bring in […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter The above figures are in an Institute of Directors (IOD) survey of over a thousand of its members. The Daily Telegraph has a report this morning which understandably links the findings to yesterday's poor borrowing figures (crunch time for George Osborne will come in October, when the Office for […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. Update 1.15pm Adding to the sense of Tory discontent with the Government's rail fare increases, Priti Patel MP said on Sky News today that she wants Ministers to "do more" to help the situation: "Our commuters are paying a lot of money to commute to work and they’re getting […]