By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Some interesting developments on tax policy this weekend. Three stand out. (1) THE JUMP-START-THE-ECONOMY WITH TAX CUTS ARGUMENT The one that has got the most attention is Ed Balls' call for a "temporary reversal of [Osborne's] VAT rise". Guido takes Ed Balls seriously and thinks the Shadow Chancellor is closer […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter A number of issues are revealing – once again – the fundamental differences between the Conservative Party and the leadership of the Coalition. Before Cameron exercised his Christmas veto the Tory party and centre right press were getting restless, even rebellious. The veto then came and suddenly the situation looked […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Chris Huhne has resigned and in his letter to Mr Huhne the Prime Minister praises the outgoing Energy and Climate Change Secretary's environmental credentials: "Thank you for your letter informing me of your decision to resign from the Government. I believe you have made the right decision under the […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Chris Huhne will be charged with perverting the course of justice. Every person is innocent until proven guilty but the CPS would not be pursuing this high profile case if there wasn't a high likelihood that Mr Huhne will end up in jail. it's a personal tragedy that flowed […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. I read columnists like Fraser Nelson and Iain Martin for analysis of what the Conservative Party should be doing. Other columnists are more interesting for accurately describing and interpreting what the Conservative Party is doing. Four columnists provide, in my view, the closest understanding of what's happening inside the […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter Thatcher's tax settlement… Margaret Thatcher inherited economic ruin and high taxes, and the two were intimately connected to each other. The top rate of income tax was 83% and the basic rate was 33%. She believed that such rates thwarted enterprise, slowed growth, depressed revenues as avoidance thrived, and […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter. Nick Clegg on ITV earlier this morning. Big moment in the short history of the Coalition today and Nick Clegg wants you to know it. His spin-doctor was tweeting at half-six this morning, trailing the fact that the Deputy PM would be on ITV Daybreak, Sky News, BBC Breakfast […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter …Actually she hasn't. She hasn't done anything of the sort. The Tory Chairman wouldn't dare launch such a fundamental attack on the party's Coalition partners. David Cameron wouldn't tolerate it. One of the principal aims of the Liberal Democrats in entering government is to prove that they are grown up […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Next year will see no return to the romance of the rose garden politics of the Coalition partners' early cohabition. Which is just as well, since the illusion couldn't last. But the two parties won't go their separate ways, either. Nick Clegg would lose out in any early election. […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Conservative insiders are worried that the fallout from the EU veto might be greater than they first expected. While Lib Dems may be unable to reverse the veto (which Cable brazenly told Andrew Marr was a political act by Cameron) they might sabotage other Coalition reforms, notably on public service […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Some Tories are beginning to wonder if the Liberal Democrats can play fair. Although today's '£1 billion jobs scheme' was very much a co-operative effort, it was agreed that Nick Clegg should front the launch. But this then appeared in today's Guardian: "Liberal Democrats said it had been a battle […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, appeared on Radio 4 today, discussing the possibility of the Bank of England receiving greater financial decision-making powers. Mr Tyrie advocated making Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee, more accountable. Mr Tyrie […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. It is now possible to see how Conservative discipline and the Government itself could break down altogether over the EU – leading to an election on the present constituency boundaries, in which the party would need a lead of roughly 8 to 10 per cent to win outright. Such […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Roughly half of Conservative backbenchers failed to back David Cameron yesterday evening – the largest revolt against a Tory Prime Minister on Europe since Britain joined the EEC. Trust between him and his party is in danger of breaking down. To describe the problems he needs to correct, if […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. New Governments often over-react to the errors of the one before. Tony Blair succeeded a faction-plagued Prime Minister who had originally presided over a "Cabinet of chums". Blair responded post-1997 by crafting a Presidential Premiership, giving political appointments such as Jonathan Powell and Alistair Campbell the authority to instruct […]