By Joseph Willits Follow Joseph on Twitter On this morning's Andrew Marr Show, Cameron reiterated his commitment to battle against "crony capitalism" and pursue a transparent agenda. Both the Observer and the Sunday Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister would personally back plans to make shareholder remuneration votes mandatory. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Cameron said that "pay going up […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. The Daily Telegraph reports today on Paymaster General, Francis Maude's bonfire of the quangos, which followed the Government's review of all public bodies in October 2010. So far, progress has been as fast as expected. The Telegraph says: Of the 199 quangos that were set to be axed, just 53 had been […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. A group of thirty Conservative MPs have signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph today. The letter sets out the following case: "European Union proposals pose a grave threat to Britain’s financial services industry, which employs nearly two million people, accounts for 10 per cent of GDP, and generates […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Last week George Osborne announced that austerity wouldn't end in time for the next election but would continue for at least another two years. This government or its successor is likely to need to find another £30 billion in cuts (although dramatic supply-side reform would reduce this total). This continuation […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. There is a puzzle about yesterday's childcare announcement in George Osborne's autumn statement. The Chancellor said that he wants "to ensure that children born into the poorest families have a real chance to become [engineering and science graduates]", and added that the Government will double the number of poorer […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Today's autumn statement is being treated in the Westminster Village as though its contents will decide the election. Ed Balls wants higher borrowing. David Davis wants tax cuts. Tim wants a growth strategy and a pitch to middle Britain – to the heirs of the voters who first put […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter I supplied ten thoughts on the Autumn Statement yesterday. I don't have much to add today except to point you to two blogs. THE ECONOMY IS IN MUCH WORSE SHAPE THAN FEARED In the first blog the BBC's Nick Robinson predicts that today will be "defining". "The Chancellor," he writes, […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Last week I looked at the politics of abolishing the 50p tax band and don't want to revisit my conclusion that it needs to go as part of a very broad tax reform package. I'd be very surprised if George Osborne announces such a package tomorrow but that doesn't mean […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Over the course of today I'll suggest ten benchmarks with which to judge the Chancellor's Autumn Statement. Much of that Statement has already been pre-briefed. Some say this has happened in order to ensure maximum exposure for complicated initiatives like credit easing. Others, more cynically, believe that Osborne is getting […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter Andrew Marr's two main guests this morning were the Chancellor and his Shadow. Their get-together coincides with an interview in which Ed Balls heaps praise on George Osborne as the Conservative Party's "best politician". Lord Ashcroft's overnight mega poll found that Mr Osborne enjoys a 56% to 44% lead over […]
By Paul GoodmanFollow Paul on Twitter. Hansard records me as having said on July 4 2006, while responding on behalf of the Conservative front bench to a Liberal Democrat motion to reduce fuel duty in remote rural areas, which had been moved by the honourable member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey: "The transport problems […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. David Ruffley MP, a senior Conservative member of the Treasury Select Committee, and a former special advisor to Ken Clarke during his time as Chancellor, has called on the government to introduce short-term growth measures to stimulate the economy. The Conservative Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, also […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter The Chancellor of the Exchequer is warned today that he needs to fashion a more competitive tax system for higher earners or Britain will lose those wealth creators to lower tax jurisdictions. Using data from the World Economic Forum, the Centre for Economics and Business Research says that "the UK […]
By Tim MontgomerieFollow Tim on Twitter PHOTO BY ALAN DAVIDSON I've given the Chancellor a bit of a tough time recently – eg here – but let's finish today with some good news. The BBC has today, cautiously, acknowledged that the Chancellor is on course to to fulfil his promise to cut borrowing: "The latest data […]
By Matthew BarrettFollow Matthew on Twitter. A new poll released today by Survation shows the daunting task the Coalition faces to convince the public its pension reforms are the right way forward. The poll finds people trust trade unions almost three times as much as they trust the government to be truthful about pensions. Whilst […]