Politics Archives

Wednesday

16 Mar 2016

Budget 2016: The biggest problem with Jeremy Corbyn’s response was that it was delivered by Jeremy Corbyn

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/spectatorpolitics/georgeosbornesbudget-2016/media.mp3″ title=”Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss today’s budget”] Listen [/audioplayer]Jeremy Corbyn’s response to today’s Budget was fine on paper. It included a proper response to the policies that were announced, rather than the Labour leader merely ranting about what he had thought might be in the Budget when he wrote the draft a few hours earlier. He did include the sorts of lines that every Budget response from an Opposition leader and campaigning organisation must include, such as ‘it doesn’t go far enough’. But he did also welcome policies such as the sugar tax, and managed a couple of decent jokes. His opening line was that

The Spectator

George Osborne’s 2016 Budget: full audio and text

Mr Deputy Speaker, Today I report on an economy set to grow faster than any other major advanced economy in the world. I report on a labour market delivering the highest employment in our history. And I report on a deficit down by two thirds, falling each year and – I can confirm today – on course for a budget surplus. The British economy is stronger because we confronted our country’s problems and took the difficult decisions. The British economy is growing because we didn’t seek short term fixes but pursued a long term economic plan. The British economy is resilient because whatever the challenge, however strong the headwinds, we have held to the course

Helen Nugent

Budget 2016: what it means for your personal finances

So, what did the Chancellor have up his sleeve? And how does it affect you and your money? Here is Spectator Money’s guide to the major changes. Income tax George Osborne stayed true to a Conservative pre-election pledge to increase the threshold for the higher rate of income tax. While reiterating that the goal is to raise the higher rate towards £50,000 by the end of the parliament, he announced an increase in the 40p threshold to £45,000 from next April (£42,385 from this April). This will lift half a million people out of the higher rate and save them £400 a year. And he repeated the aim of boosting the tax-free

Steerpike

Watch: George Osborne promises to ‘abolish’ the Liberal Democrats

Of course no Budget announcement would be complete without some customary ‘banter’ from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. With George Osborne’s leadership chances seen to be dwindling, he did his best to show that he had got his ‘mojo’ back. Clearly free of any guilty feelings over how things turned out for the Liberal Democrats in the General Election, Osborne couldn’t resist a taking a pop at the beleaguered party as he discussed his plan for pensions: ‘For the past year, we’ve consulted widely on whether we should make compulsory changes to the pension system but it was clear there was no consensus. Indeed the former pensions minister, the Liberal Democrat Steve Webb said

Isabel Hardman

PMQs: A session soon to be lost in the Budget smog

Normally when a Leader of the Opposition prepares for the Prime Minister’s Questions before a Budget, it comes second to the prep for the difficult Budget response and focuses on a slightly random topic. The difference between this session and a normal PMQs is usually rather marked. But when Jeremy Corbyn rose today to ask his questions, his chosen topic of air pollution wasn’t all that more eccentric than his usual range of subjects. David Cameron’s team does have to prepare a wider range of topics – albeit in less detail – for PMQs now that Corbyn is Labour leader. But even they hadn’t thought of air pollution: Cameron had

The Spectator

Budget 2016 – the key announcements

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/spectatorpolitics/georgeosbornesbudget-2016/media.mp3″ title=”Fraser Nelson, Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth discuss today’s Budget”] Listen [/audioplayer] Sugar tax on drinks with over 8pc sugar from 2018. A tax on the poor. Chunky growth downgrades. This year, GDP to grow at 2.0pc (down from 2.4pc) next years at 2.2pc (down from 2.5pc) and at 2.1pc (down from 2.4pc) in 2018/19. Debt target published just six months ago has been missed already because debt/GDP ratio is still rising. Corporation tax to be cut to 17pc by 2020, an improvement on previous 18 per cent target. About the only bit of good news. A mighty £1.4 billion cut from disability benefits Usually a political lightning rod. Under-40s to be allowed to open lifetime ISAs, with government contributing.

Freddy Gray

Goodbye, Marco Rubio. You were the wrong candidate at the wrong time

Marco Rubio last night finally suspended his campaign. At the risk of sounding smug, I could have told you years ago that he was not a good presidential candidate. In the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012, Rubio went on a charm tour of London, where I met him. He was sharp, no doubt about it, and agreeable in a way. His mind seemed to work very fast. But his speech and manner were weirdly automatic. It was as if a programmer had typed the following instructions into his head: ‘Visiting centre-right British magazine. Engage/deploy Thatcher-Reagan freedom rhetoric. Stress importance of Special Relationship. Attack Barack Obama.’ For twenty minutes or

Isabel Hardman

Budget 2016: Osborne the weatherman to warn of storm clouds over the economy

A year ago, George Osborne was giving voters a glimpse of the sunny uplands that they could expect from life under a Tory government. At the time, few believed that there would be a Tory majority after the election, but here we are at the 2016 Budget with the Chancellor still in weatherman mode, but now warning that the ‘storm clouds are gathering again’ over the economy. Osborne will say today that ‘in this Budget we choose the long term’ and that this government will ‘put the next generation first’. The Chancellor would have had to change his weather metaphors in post-election economic statements anyway, because every Budget right before

Helen Nugent

What will be in the 2016 Budget?

Fresh austerity measures, changes to income tax and the scrapping of a radical overhaul to the pensions system have dominated the headlines ahead of the 2016 Budget. But what money measures does the Chancellor have in store today? Here’s what to expect. Income tax One of the Conservatives’ pre-election pledges was an increase in the threshold for the higher rate of income tax towards £50,000 by the end of the parliament, and a rise in the tax-free personal allowance to £12,500. Despite stringent criticism over the funding for these measures (including cutting support for the disabled), George Osborne could raise both faster than anticipated. Fuel Duty Ah, this old chestnut. Unsurprisingly, motorists are vehemently opposed to

Tuesday

15 Mar 2016

Isabel Hardman

Burnham makes the case for Labour not supporting the Investigatory Powers Bill

The saying ‘the House of Commons at its best’ is normally a pompous description of parliamentarians agreeing with one another on something it is impossible to disagree on. However, when MPs come together to scrutinise legislation involving the security services, they do come rather close to being at their best, as they grow rather anxious about whether the legislation will actually work. So far the debate on the Investigatory Powers Bill has largely been detailed and thoughtful and without much silly knockabout. But the closest the second reading session has come to knockabout was when Andy Burnham was offering Labour’s response. The Shadow Home Secretary had the difficult job of

Steerpike

Labour’s former election star distances himself from Jeremy Corbyn

In 2010, Ross Kemp appeared in a party political broadcast urging the public to vote for Labour in the General Election. In this, the EastEnders actor, who plays Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, warned the nation against voting for David Cameron: ‘It only takes around 60 seconds to cast your vote. 60 seconds to protect the economy, 60 seconds to protect your jobs, 60 seconds to protect the services your family relies on. And a lot is at stake during those 60 seconds, David Cameron and George Osborne would cut child credits and tax funds. They would put police numbers and schools at risk. With George Osborne at the

Douglas Murray

Cameron’s support for Turkey’s EU membership should worry us all

David Cameron this morning claimed that people who wish to leave the EU are ‘taking a risk with people’s jobs, taking a risk with families’ finances.’ Well then let us consider an even bigger risk that David Cameron is taking. In a visit to Turkey in 2010 our own Prime Minister announced that he would do everything he could to ensure Turkey entered the EU. Speaking as a guest of the country’s Islamist Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, our own PM said, ‘Turkey deserves its place at the top table of European politics – and that is what I will fight for.’ Since then he has indeed been fighting to

Tom Mludzinski

Osborne suffers from being the Microsoft to Cameron’s Apple

George Osborne’s battle to become Conservative leader may well be tougher than the battle he faces from the Labour opposition. The Chancellor delivers his eighth Budget tomorrow with only 31 percent of Britons believing he has done a good job as Chancellor. The backdrop for his set-piece speech is perhaps more troubling: only 26 percent say their personal finances are better off than last year and 31 percent think the economy has improved. And yet, despite this, Osborne and Cameron have a 15 point lead over Labour’s team on economic trust. While Osborne has received many plaudits for moving to the political centre ground after May last year, he has seen only

Ed West

Is more multiculturalism really the cure for the EU’s problems?

Germany is on its feet again; the country’s answer to Ukip, Alternative Für Deutschland, made huge gains at the polls, winning a presence in three state assemblies. The shadow of Auschwitz looms over all European politics on the subject of immigration and race, but obviously more so in Germany, and many people are worried. Their growth in popularity may have something to do with the chancellor’s decision to invite one million and counting people from the wider Middle East, in an gesture historians will probably see as the grandest act of folly of early 21st century history. Some people are worried that, along with FN, Ukip and Trump, AfD are

Steerpike

‘Brexit martyr’ John Longworth gets ready for his comeback

Last week John Longworth, the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, caused upset in the Remain camp when he used a BCC conference to claim that Britain could have a ‘brighter future’ outside the EU. With No.10 rumoured to have ‘bullied’ the BCC into disciplining him — an allegation they deny — Longworth was suspended before choosing to resign so that he could speak freely on the EU. So, with Longworth now seen to be the first ‘Brexit martyr’ of the campaign, Mr S suspects Downing Street may soon come to miss the days when Longworth felt the need to watch his tongue. The leading businessman has been drafted in as a last-minute

Isabel Hardman

Meet Labour’s alternative shadow Treasury team

Jeremy Corbyn is preparing for his first response to a Budget since becoming Labour leader. The last time he spoke in a debate following an economic statement from the Chancellor was in 2012, when he complained about the ‘granny tax’, the benefit cap, proposals for regional pay, transport spending and Heathrow and housing. The MP for Islington North concluded: ‘I want a Budget that helps the poorest in this country, that creates jobs, that encourages local authorities to build council housing, and that shows that there is a sense of the reality experienced by those living in inner urban areas. If we do not provide jobs for young people, we

Isabel Hardman

Labour unease over Investigatory Powers Bill

The Investigatory Powers Bill has its second reading in the Commons this afternoon, with Labour planning to abstain and make its support for the timing of the legislation conditional on the Home Secretary satisfying a number of concerns that the party has. Separately, I understand that Tory MPs such as Liam Fox are pushing for a generous timetable for the legislation, including committee stage taking place on the floor of the Commons. Fox points out that ‘there’s not much other legislation about’, though this has never stopped ministers giving controversial pieces of legislation very tight timetables for debate. So far, though, Theresa May has been in a very consensual mood

Fraser Nelson

Chuka Umunna: Labour MPs represent more people than the Corbynistas

It’s the Ides of March today, and there are pitifully few signs of a Labour plot. I was on ITV’s The Agenda last night with Chuka Umunna, one of the putative successors to Jeremy Corbyn, who was teased by Tom Bradby about his ambitions. He came out with the usual hedged denials (“there’s not a vacancy.,, I’ve said I would never say never”) but then came out with the rationale for ousting Corbyn. The problem: most Labour members were not members this time last year. The party has been taken over by Corbynistas and while Labour MPs could technically change the leadership it’s harder to change the membership. Chuka agreed- but then gave the

Monday

14 Mar 2016

Isabel Hardman

Pollster finds Labour level-pegging with the Tories. Pollster panics.

Look! All this sniping at Jeremy Corbyn is wrong and now we have proof. The Labour leader is not in fact trashing his party’s brand. Today a poll from ICM puts the Conservatives and Labour level on 36 per cent, a jump of four points for the opposition and a drop of three for the governing party. But before Corbynistas have had a chance to gather up their red flags and take to the sunny streets to celebrate, ICM has already issued a clarification which, in essence, trashes the poll’s finding. You can read the full list of caveats to the poll here, but the key lines are that ‘the

Isabel Hardman

Iain Duncan Smith given pointless grilling on how he sleeps and jobs fairs

Labour had an aggressive session at Work and Pensions Questions today, attacking the Conservatives on disability benefit cuts, and on whether they had any morals. Normally questions in the Commons are supposed to be about the design of policies, but today Owen Smith appeared to be taking a leaf out of Jeremy Corbyn’s book, asking a question he had crowdsourced: ‘Before I came here this afternoon, Mr Speaker, I asked disabled people what question they would like to put to the Secretary of State and one answer stood out and it was quite simply: how does he sleep at night?’ Funnily enough, Iain Duncan Smith didn’t supply any details of