The Cabinet met this morning, but it didn’t manage to discuss two of the biggest political problems for the Tories at the moment, according to the Downing Street read-out of the meeting. The growing row on tax credits was only referred to when the discussion of parliamentary business touched on the fact that there is an Opposition Day debate on the matter later today, and there was no discussion of the demands from a number of those present at the table for collective responsibility to be suspended during the EU referendum. Not surprising, perhaps, given this was Cabinet rather than political cabinet, but a reflection of the way rows don’t always make their way into the formal discussions between ministers.
But Cabinet Ministers did get a chance to discuss Europe, with the Prime Minister leading an item on the renegotiation. He updated them on the European Council meeting. His spokeswoman said: ‘It provided the Prime Minister with the opportunity to update colleagues on where we have got to, so the fact that we kickstarted the process formal in June, that there have been technical talks over the summer and that we now expect the pace to quicken and to move into sort of broader deeper discussions with member states.’
Theresa May, George Osborne and Philip Hammond also gave ‘their view on how their discussions were going’. So it was a chance to reassure colleagues that what appears to have underwhelmed Tory MPs so far will step up a notch soon. But given some colleagues around that table will most likely never be overwhelmed with how the renegotiation is going, the Prime Minister will at some point have to address the issue of a free vote – and Osborne must know that he will have to do something to stop the tax credit row from getting worse, even if it was only referred to in passing today.
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