Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Thursday

9 Mar 2017

Steerpike

Watch: Philip Hammond squirms as he is accused of being a liar over National Insurance U-turn

The Chancellor has awoken to a slew of bad headlines today following his decision to row back on a 2015 Tory manifesto pledge and raise National Insurance for the self-employed. In an attempt at some damage limitation, Philip Hammond has been doing the usual post-Budget media rounds this morning. Alas his interview with Sky News didn’t go quite to plan. Challenged repeatedly on the broken Tory manifesto pledge, an uncomfortable Hammond was accused of being a liar: Sky News: Were you lying when you stood on that vote, was the manifesto wrong — or have you just decided to renege on it? PH: The manifesto presented a package of measures and we

Tom Goodenough

Revealed: The full list of Tory MPs who have spoken out against the Chancellor

Given that Jeremy Corbyn barely seemed to notice Philip Hammond’s Budget blunder, it’s unlikely the Chancellor will be too worried about Labour’s response to the National Insurance rates row. He will be troubled, though, by the rumblings on the backbenches behind him. The prospect of a Tory revolt is now very much on the cards; 18 Conservative MPs – including former leader Iain Duncan Smith and Tory whip Guto Bebb – have publicly spoken out against the policy. Because Tory MPs were voted in on a manifesto pledge not to raise NI contributions – and will inevitably be getting it in the neck from angry constituents over the coming days –

Isabel Hardman

Philip Hammond’s small print won’t save him from a Tory backbench revolt

George Osborne was famous in Westminster when Chancellor for laying large ‘elephant traps’ for Labour using Treasury policy. He was also famous for telling everyone all about how the trap worked and where it was, before falling into it himself. When Philip Hammond came into the Treasury, it was largely accepted that the days of silly elephant traps were over. But this week the new Chancellor ended up locating one of the last of the Osborne elephant traps which had been lying dormant in the political jungle – and he located it by falling straight into it. The ‘tax lock’, which the Tories announced in the 2015 election campaign to

Martin Vander Weyer

New European giants? Standard-Aberdeen looks a better bet than Peugeot-Vauxhall

Budget week also turned out to be a week of notable deals. PSA, French owner of Peugeot and Citroën, went ahead with its €2.2 billion takeover of Vauxhall and Opel from General Motors, creating ‘a new European giant to challenge Volkswagen’, according to the spin, and new fears for those who foresee post-Brexit attrition of the British motor industry. By way of reassurance, PSA boss Carlos Tavares said a hard Brexit is an ‘opportunity’ — to beef up the domestic supply chain while reducing component imports from the EU — and that ‘I trust Vauxhall workers’ to improve their productivity. That last bit sounded to me more like a threat

Tom Switzer

Sydney Notebook

The other day, I went to a boozy barbecue near Sydney’s northern beaches. The guests were all political mates of mine and we chatted about those insurgent populists who threaten to upend established conservative parties across the globe: Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, Beppe Grillo and, of course, Pauline Hanson — Australia’s version of all four. We put our wide-ranging discussion about domestic politics in an international context. But it was not until the next morning that I realised that we had not even talked about Malcolm Turnbull: he’s our fourth prime minister in four years, who was famous in the UK in the 1980s as the defence

Wednesday

8 Mar 2017

Clare Mcneil

T-levels (alone) won’t prepare us for the 4th industrial revolution

The Chancellor has chosen to invest £500m in technical education, but we shouldn’t kid ourselves that the new ‘T-levels’ will help get the UK match fit for Brexit, or prepare the UK for the 4th industrial revolution. For a start, the funding may only kick in after we have left the EU, as it starts at the end of the two-year period triggered by Article 50. Therefore, it won’t help us prepare in advance for the unpredictable impact of more restrictive migration policies and changed trading relationships. Moreover, while £500m by 2022 is a significant investment, the UK will still only be spending the same amount on vocational education as

John Fitzsimons

Why your next car will cost you more: reforms mean higher costs for motorists

The beginning of March marks the start of car buying season with drivers keen to snap up a motor with the new registration plates. Some dealerships reckon interest jumps by as much as 25 per cent in new registration months. If you’re thinking about spending your cash on a new runaround, there’s a good reason to get a move on: the way that car tax is calculated is being revamped in April. For many motorists that will mean a bigger outlay. How car tax is changing At the moment, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), or car tax, is determined by your vehicle’s emission levels. All cars are placed in bands from

Isabel Hardman

Hammond gets a pasting in the press

It’s fair to say that Philip Hammond hasn’t charmed Fleet Street with his Spring Budget. There is little sympathy even from newspapers inclined to agree with a Conservative assessment of how to run the economy. Broken promises are potent in politics – just ask the Liberal Democrats. The Tories made their tax lock pledge in the 2015 election as they were hoovering up seats from the Lib Dems who were being punished for failing to keep a pledge on tuition fees they had made at the previous election. Westminster had almost forgotten the tuition fee row. Voters hadn’t. The argument that bringing National Insurance for the self-employed into line with

Steerpike

Budget day – a good day to bury George Osborne’s extra income

As politicians and hacks alike turn their ire on Philip Hammond this afternoon over his decision to row back on a 2015 Tory manifesto pledge, you’d be forgiven for thinking not much else is going on. So, Mr S was curious to learn that today is the day George Osborne’s salary as an advisor to BlackRock has been revealed. The latest register of interests shows that Osborne is bring in a cool £162,500 a quarter, which would mean an impressive £650,000 annually. Surely the former Chancellor didn’t mean to bury the news?

Lloyd Evans

Jeremy Corbyn’s torrent of miserabilism sums up the party’s woes

Would it take much to turn Philip Hammond into Dracula? He’s got the gaunt bearing, the unsettling gaze, the greedy overbite and the louring stature of the blood-sucking count. Add an opera cape and a dab of mascara and the costume would be complete. So it’s strange to see this vampiric figure delivering a budget full of happy tidings. Our economy is growing, he grinned, faster than America’s or Japan’s. Tax revenues are up. Employment has reached a new zenith. Joblessness has dwindled to 11-year lows. And he didn’t even mention London. A lot of the best data comes from the midlands and the north. He’ll probably never have an

Steerpike

Is David Cameron to blame for Philip Hammond’s Budget blues?

This afternoon Philip Hammond has found himself the subject of much bad press over his decision to break a 2015 Tory manifesto pledge and raise national insurance for the self-employed. But is Hammond the person to blame? Mr S only asks as it turns out that those involved with the 2015 Conservative manifesto might not have put that much thought into the original pledge. Speaking to the Sun‘s Tom Newton Dunn last year, Ameet Gill — David Cameron’s former Head of Strategy — revealed that the promise to not raise National Insurance for five years was only implemented because they had a ‘hole in the grid’: ‘Towards the end of the

Steerpike

George Osborne’s right-hand man gives his Budget verdict: ‘think we can rule out a snap election’

Oh dear. Although today’s Budget was expected to be rather boring, it’s shaping up to be a lot more interesting than Philip Hammond had intended. The Chancellor’s decision to break a 2015 Tory manifesto pledge and raise National Insurance Contributions (Class 4) by two per cent for self-employed workers has left many in uproar. But surely Hammond can rely on former Treasury staff to have his back at this testing time? Perhaps not. Rupert Harrison, George Osborne’s former chief of staff in the Treasury, has offered his snap verdict: While Harrison — who now works alongside Osborne at BlackRock — says the dividend changes are likely to encounter opposition in Tory heartlands. What’s more,

James Forsyth

Philip Hammond must act fast to avoid a repeat of the pasty tax row

The government is in trouble over the National Insurance increase for the self-employed. Journalists are busy pointing out that the Tory manifesto explicitly said that there would be no increases in National Insurance. But Philip Hammond’s allies are—rather absurdly—claiming that the Budget keeps this manifesto promise as the post-election tax lock law only refers to Class One National Insurance contributions, and what is being raised is Class 4 ones. This is the wrong ground for the government to fight on; and they’ll end up losing if they remain camped out here. It is rather ironic that a Budget which promises to clamp down on misleading special offers that take advantage

Ross Clark

Biggest loser from this Budget? The credibility of Tory tax promises

There is a very big winner from today’s budget. Not adults in social care, not schools, but Ukip. Philip Hammond has handed a huge political opportunity: to position itself as the party of the self-employed: the taxi driver, the brickie, the plumber, the small shop-owner. These used to be natural Tories. From today, with Hammond imposing a two per cent extra tax on their income, and breaking a manifesto commitment in the process, they will be looking for a new political home. No wonder Suzanne Evans was tweeting about the change within seconds of it being made. The Treasury’s argument for raising National Insurance Contributions on the self-employed is that

Isabel Hardman

Philip Hammond brews trouble with his National Insurance hike

Philip Hammond had, in his first few months of Chancellor, gained rather a reputation for being an ‘Eeyore’ about the consequences of Brexit. In the run-up to today’s Budget, it was briefed that he would be much more upbeat about things, while also storing up a ‘war chest’ to guard against any future shocks to the economy caused by Britain leaving the European Union. In the event he barely talked about it at all. He told the Chamber that ‘as we start our negotiations to exit the European Union, this Budget takes forward our plan to prepare Britain for a brighter future’, and ’our task today is to take the

Fraser Nelson

Budget 2017 in five graphs

Some thoughts on today’s Budget: Hammond breaks Tory promise not to raise National Insurance. Breaks his word, hits 15pc of workforce, raises a pittance. The pledge was made no fewer than four times in the 2015 Conservative Manifesto: no rises in VAT, income tax or National Insurance. And after the election, a law was then passed to stop tax rises, which I thought odd at the time. Did Osborne really need legislation to restrain himself? If Tories have made a manifesto promise, as solemn a promise as you can get in this kind of world, why pass a law? We now know the answer: manifesto pledges are seen as expendable (at least by

Isabel Hardman

Jeremy Corbyn’s bleak Budget response fails to trouble the Chancellor

Jeremy Corbyn now has more experience of responding to Budgets than the Chancellor of the Exchequer who he stood opposite today. So did the Labour leader offer a good response to Philip Hammond’s statement today? The answer will depend on how you evaluate Budget responses. If you’re expecting the Leader of the Opposition to look like a Prime Minister in waiting, then you’re expecting too much. If you’re measuring him against his own record, which remains largely that of an obscure and unimpressive backbencher who was never promoted for very good reasons, then this was a passable Budget response. It’s been a few years since we had a decent Budget

The Spectator

Philip Hammond’s Budget announcement, full transcript

Mr Deputy Speaker, I report today on an economy that has continued to confound the commentators with robust growth. A labour market delivering record employment. And a deficit down by over two-thirds. As we start our negotiations to exit the European Union, this Budget takes forward our plan to prepare Britain for a brighter future. It provides a strong and stable platform for those negotiations. It extends opportunity to all our young people. It delivers further investment in our public services. And it continues the task of getting Britain back to living within its means. We are building the foundations of a stronger, fairer, more global Britain. Mr Deputy Speaker,

Steerpike

Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit breakfast blunder

We all know that Brexit means Brexit – but not if you’re Jeremy Corbyn, it seems. During his response to Philip Hammond’s Budget announcement, the leader of the opposition made a blunder which Mr S suspects he’s not going to be allowed to forget any time soon. ‘Our economy is not prepared for breakfast,’ Corbyn told the Commons – before quickly correcting himself. Mr S does have some sympathy with Corbyn. After all, the Labour leader isn’t the first politician to fall into the trap of equating Brexit with breakfast. Welsh Tory leader Andrew Davies did just that at the Conservative party conference last year when he told delegates: ‘Mark my words,

Isabel Hardman

A perfect example of how Corbyn’s inability to think on his feet lets him down

Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a good example of how Jeremy Corbyn’s inability to be nimble on his feet lets him down. The Labour leader had a perfect peg for his questions about social care, which was last night’s leak of recordings in which Surrey Council leader David Hodge spoke of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. His first question was a good one, asking the Prime Minister to explain the difference between a ‘sweetheart deal’ and a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. May denied that there was a special deal for Surrey, and repeated that denial in subsequent answers. But what Corbyn didn’t pick up on was the careful wording of May’s denial. She said: