Hammond, Green, the Work and Pensions Select Committee – even Clegg. All agree that it needs reviewing at least. And not before time.
Hammond is a rare beast – most holders of his office have done everything they can to extend their power.
Circumstances dictate a suck-it-and-see Autumn Statement – but also one that can transcend its own caution by pointing to a visionary landscape ahead.
This is the right Minister in the right department. And though his room for manoeuvre is limited, he has a chance to make an impact on families policy.
“I think you can argue that between February and the start of July, every single decision that Michael Gove made changed the course of British history.”
The second piece in our mini-series on the Autumn Statement, which takes place a week from today.
Housing, roads and networks are three priorities for the Autumn Statement.
Plus: John Rees-Evans’s bizarrre views. May’s flourishing line in jokes. Trump’s chances of winning. And: let Article 50 be put to a vote in Parliament and let’s get on with it.
“Later, when I give out the awards, there won’t be much time for chit chat – a bit like when Theresa and I last spoke.”
She needs the larger majority that a poll would deliver if she is to achieve her programme at a time of pre-Brexit turbulence.
It is tempting to wish him gone. But, like everything else post-June, the future of the Bank should be subject first and foremost to the requirements of Brexit.
Plus: Osborne – terrible at predictions but brilliant at quizzes. The Brexiteers sweep the Select Committee board. And: all the very best to Nick Boles.
The politicised forecasts issued in the referendum campaign need to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt.
Hammond wants no longer to treat it as a second Budget-style political opportunity. That may turn out to be better in principle than in practice.
A Government which wants to ‘make Britain a country that works for everyone’ cannot allocate £4 billion of £6 billion to those in the top half of the income distribution.