Will the Tories avoid making McCain's tax error?

I say in my political column this week that Cameron must “offer tax cuts before Brown does” – and seems I may not have to wait long before David Cameron repays my faith in him. Patrick Hennessy says in the Sunday Telegraph today that the Tories are planning an employment-orientated tax cut financed by spending cuts. As the FT said on Saturday that Darling could be mulling some £15bn of tax cuts, there was a danger that the Tories could be the only party in Britain not proposing to let people...

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Mr President, your priority should be...

Boston, Massachusetts

Two of the Democrats’ biggest beasts take to the papers today to urge Obama to make their issue his top priority. In the New York Times Al Gore calls for immediate action on climate change while in the Washington Post Ted Kennedy declares that ‘Health Care Can’t Wait’.

This is a taste of the pressure Obama will come under in the next few months; everyone knows that his political capital will never be this high again and that the first two years of his administration offer the...

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Who will win the tax war?

It now seems that Labour and the Tories are willing to follow the Lib Dem lead on tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners.  Yesterday's papers had news that Brown & Darling are preparing a range of cuts for possible inclusion in the forthcoming pre-Budget report.  And today's Telegraph reveals that Cameron & Co. are now lining up a preemptive tax cut of their own.

There are strong moral, fiscal and political arguments in favour of targeted tax cuts, so - on paper, at least - it's A Good Thing that all...

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In Memoriam

A poppy rests on a memorial for the fallen and missing of World War I, in Ypres, Belgium.  Today, thousands of remembrance services will take place across Britain, ahead of the 90th Anniversary of the armistice on Tuesday.

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Despite the Brown bounce, the Tories are still ahead by double-digits

Glenrothes was undoubtedly a triumph for Gordon Brown. It has restored his authority in the Labour party and ensured that the media narrative of the Brown comeback will continue. But the new ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph shows just how much of a climb Brown still has: the Tories are on 43, up one, and Labour on 30. According to Conservative Home’s calculation, this would result in a Tory majority of 80. 

When you consider that the reality of recession has yet to really hit the electorate you realise...

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