Meaningful fiscal devolution within England would face huge opposition from Labour councils; anything else would not give town halls the incentive to undertake difficult reforms.
The Opposition currently talks a big game on devolution and planning reform. But for their actions to meet the scale of the challenge, the prize, and their own rhetoric, they will need a new approach.
If she really has the legal advice she claims, this damaging story should be easy to close down. If he can’t even make his own deputy show it to him, what does that say about his authority?
If Labour get into power, we can bet teaching unions will be resurgent, filling the void where education policies should be with demands that our schools do what they want, rather than what children and parents need.
On current trends, the next election poses the greatest threat to the Conservative Party’s continued existence in its history. Can we imagine politics with under 50 Tory MPs?
We spoke to 2019 Conservatives who put their chances of voting Tory again at less than five out of ten – the people the party will need to win back if it is to recover ground before the election.
The Opposition cannot deliver a 1979-style transformation without making difficult decisions, or only picking fights with easy targets such as non-doms and parents of private-school children.
For many state schools, already thinly-resourced and stretched to capacity, a sudden influx of students from the independent sector would be a disaster.
The Opposition reportedly plan to fund a new task force with the savings from clearing the asylum backlog and ending the use of hotels. But both of those things would cost a lot of money to achieve – unless the plan is to just wave people through.
The reality is that a ‘You Can’t Trust Labour’ message can be soundly founded and vigorously pursued.
When asked about the overall effect, only 14 per cent of voters said they thought the Budget would leave them better off personally, with 2019 Labour voters (19 per cent) more likely to say this than 2019 Tories (12 per cent).
I have a theory: more often than not, a political party is better at evaluating its opponent’s political weaknesses than its own.
“You’ve always got to explain where the money comes from”, the Shadow Chancellor tells Laura Kuenssberg.
No fewer than 10,000 women who undertook DIY abortions in 2020 required hospital treatment for complications. A morally serious Parliament, in step with public opinion, should not assent to an amendment that treats abortion pills like sweets.
Either the Shadow Chancellor has plans and won’t reveal them, or she is talking a good game on growth but has no plans to back it up. Neither scenario inspires confidence.