The contours of the coalition’s autumn growth offensive are beginning to emerge. The impasse that existed before the summer appears to have at least eased. On Marr this morning, George Osborne announced that the Treasury is now working on plans for a small business bank which will please Vince Cable who has been pushing for this for a long time. At the same time, Osborne also backed more airport and runway capacity in the South East and announced that the government will announce further measures to simplify the planning system.
His message: ‘we have to do more and do it faster’. In line with this approach I understand that Vince Cable will announce supply side reform to employment rights in the next fortnight including a cap on payouts for unfair dismissal and changes to the ACAS code regulating disputes between employers and employees.
The Tory election strategy, which Osborne will remain in charge of, is based around convincing the public that Labour are — in the words of one senior Downing Street figure — ‘snake-oil salesmen’, that there’s no easy way to get the economy moving again.
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