Uk politics

Wednesday

Steerpike

Will Cameron take his revenge on Merkel?

As James Kirkup writes on Coffee House, David Cameron’s misreading of Angela Merkel contributed to Brexit. The then Prime Minister and his team believed that Cameron’s personal relationship with Merkel – who apparently saw him as a ‘naughty nephew’ – would be enough to secure some important compromises in the renegotiation. Those compromises never came but Mr S has reason to suspect Cameron could soon take his revenge on his one time ally. A little birdy tells Steerpike that Merkel will have a starring role in Cameron’s upcoming memoirs – only it won’t be a particularly positive one. ‘I hear he will not hold back when it comes to pointing out the role

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work

Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about giving people more leisure during their working life, we need to ask another question. If it really is so vital to the economy that people spend more time at work, then why does the government spend £41 billion every year (a third of the cost of the NHS) providing tax relief on pension contributions? This merely encourages older and more experienced employees to leave the workforce several years earlier than necessary. Remember, five years needlessly spent in retirement is 20 years that could have been spent enjoying a working life

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Tory fiscal hawks uncharacteristically relaxed about Hammond’s spending ‘gamble’

Although Philip Hammond’s spending splurge Budget has received broadly positive front pages and a cautious thumbs up from the public, the Chancellor has been given a reality check by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). After crunching the numbers, IFS director Paul Johnson has concluded that Hammond had ‘gambled’ on the public finances. Johnson said that the Chancellor ought to be ‘thanking his lucky stars’ for his £12billion windfall from a revised public borrowing forecast. With no plan set out for how to fund this level of spending in the future, Johnson concluded that ‘inevitable tax increases’ would have to follow in order ‘to pay for our ageing population’. On

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Polly Toynbee vs George Osborne – ‘the idea that he’s a centrist!’

In recent years, George Osborne has attempted to rebrand himself. Once known as the austere chancellor, the Evening Standard editor is keen to be depicted these days as a liberal progressive – who has more in common with Emmanuel Macron than Boris Johnson. The problem is that many of those who regard themselves as progressive don’t feel the same way. As was displayed on Newsnight when Grauniad hack Polly Toynbee launched a broadside on the former chancellor: ‘This man has done such harm and damage to the country. He has been the most right wing chancellor we have ever had. Nor do I think your ideas are in the centre.

Tom Slater Tom Slater

What’s the real reason for the hold-up in the police’s Brexit probe?

Brexiteers are occasionally depicted as being a little paranoid. If you listen to some elite critics of Brexit, you would think that a sizeable chunk of those who voted to Leave are sharing dodgy anti-George Soros memes long into the night. You might think, too, that a few Brexit voters see elite stitch-ups everywhere and never let the truth get in the way of their anti-Brussels prejudices. But if there is a paranoid style in British politics at the moment, it is not being practised by the 17.4million. It’s coming from that small set of elite Remainers in politics and the media who are resorting to desperate measures in their campaign to

Tuesday

Steerpike

Watch: Yvette Cooper clashes with Caroline Nokes

Yvette Cooper got more than she bargained for when she had a go at immigration minister Caroline Nokes at today’s home affairs committee. The Labour MP rebuked Nokes after she complained about the meeting overrunning, telling her: You have been incredibly generous with your time and we really appreciate it. I would also say, however, we have only five months until these no deal arrangements have to be in place. Nokes’s response? And with only five months to go some of my time this afternoon might have been scheduled for planning Mr S thinks Nokes has a point…

Matthew Lynn

Why the IFS is wrong about a ‘no deal’ Brexit

The growth forecasts might be too optimistic. The economy may yet turn down, the pressure on public services will only continue to rise, and, most of all, leaving the European Union may yet turn into a catastrophe. The Institute for Fiscal Studies did not waste much time in branding yesterday’s Budget ‘a bit of a gamble’, with plenty of risks attached to it. In saying so, the IFS no doubt reflects the mainstream view in the economics profession and probably among the professional scribblers of the City as well. And yet the truth is that Philip Hammond didn’t take enough of a gamble. With the British economy in better shape

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Philip Hammond’s Budget plan won’t save the High Street

How much did Philip Hammond’s giveaway Budget help dying town centres? Not enough, say campaigners, but let’s give the Chancellor some credit. A one-third relief in business rates for retail properties with a rateable value of less than £51,000 means an annual saving of up to £8,000 for a huge number of small businesses; pubs where people still drink beer and spirits in old-fashioned style benefit from a duty freeze that one industry body says will ‘secure upwards of 3,000 jobs’; and there’s money to help convert disused premises into homes. On the other hand, there was a £3 billion sting for the growing army of freelance ‘consultants’ and techies

Steerpike Steerpike

Ken Clarke: the British are not very good at being enterprising

Last night was the Spectator’s ‘Deal or No Deal’ event, where six panellists convened to discuss all things Brexit, and say whether they thought Britain would ‘crash out’ of the EU or thrive on WTO terms. Nobly representing the Remain side was parliamentary titan, and Father of the House, Ken Clarke. And while Ken was somewhat outnumbered by Brexiteers on the panel, he made a valiant effort to fend off their attacks and put forward the Remainer case. That said, Mr S noticed that one of his comments certainly did not go down well with the crowd on the night. Speaking about the state of the British economy, Ken declared

Steerpike Steerpike

John McDonnell vs Momentum

Oh dear. John McDonnell has found himself in hot water this morning after he declared that Labour would support Philip Hammond’s budget tax cuts. Given that the Resolution Foundation claims that the tax cuts will benefit the better off, it doesn’t seem like the most obvious move for anti-austerity Labour. Labour politicians have been quick to see red – with regional mayor Andy Burnham taking to social media. But the response that should worry the shadow chancellor the most relates to what Momentum – the pro-Corbyn grassroots group – will say. It seems no-one thought to tell them in advance what the shadow chancellor was planning: Exclusive: Tories favour rich in new

Monday

Katy Balls

The Budget shows the Tories are now fighting on Corbyn’s turf | 29 October 2018

When Theresa May announced at this year’s Tory conference that she would put an end to austerity, it’s safe to say that her Chancellor hardly looked thrilled as he clapped from the front row of the hall. Philip Hammond is regarded as a fiscal hawk and rather averse to loosening the purse strings. At today’s Budget, Hammond tried to get on board with No 10’s ending austerity message. But in doing so, he also attempted to put some clear blue water between ‘end austerity’ Conservatives and anti-austerity Labour. Firstly, Hammond defined what he sees as ‘ending austerity’. The Chancellor said that ending austerity meant an above-inflation increase in departmental spending. The

The Spectator

Full text: Philip Hammond’s Budget statement 2018

Mr Deputy Speaker, Today, I present to the House a Budget for Britain’s future; A budget that shows the perseverance of the British people finally paying off. A Budget for hard working families, who live their lives far from this place and care little for the twists and turns of Westminster politics. People who get up early in the morning to open up factories, shops, and building sites, to drop their kids off at school to check on elderly relatives and neighbours. The strivers, the grafters and the carers who are the backbone of our communities and our economy. People who ask only of Government that we protect the jobs that put food on their table, that we deliver the public

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Hammond’s Halloween Budget fails to excite

Philip Hammond held the Budget today to avoid a bunch of Halloween jokes about a zombie economy and so on. To compensate, the Chancellor brought a bunch of random sentences in fancy dress as ‘jokes’. There were inexplicable quips about poaching rabbits, a medley of toilet puns accompanying funding for keeping public conveniences open, and the strangest of all: ‘fiscal Phil says fiscal rules, OK.’ What the Chancellor hadn’t dressed up, though, were the series of announcements in this Budget. They weren’t fancy. Or radical. There was some political appropriation, with Hammond trying to deal with a few Labour threats by stealing their policies. He announced that he will not

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Philip Hammond gets heckled

Poor old Philip Hammond. In a bid to raise some laughs during his Budget announcement, the Chancellor made a series of gags that fell somewhat flat in the Commons. But there was one big laugh in the chamber. Unfortunately for Hammond, though, it came after he made a reference to his budget next year. ‘You won’t be here’, a Labour MP shouted out. Mr S thinks Spreadsheet Phil should have seen that one coming…  

Steerpike Steerpike

Philip Hammond’s worst Budget gags 2018

Ever keen to show that there’s a man lurking behind the Spreadsheet, Chancellor Philip Hammond usually uses his Budget speech to crack a few jokes, and try to convince the country he possesses a sense of humour. This year was no exception, but whether he managed to achieve anything close to comedy, Mr S will leave readers to decide. Here are the best (yes, these were the best) and worst gags from his Budget speech this year: 1. ‘I’m sure like me, many Members of the House keenly remember the last Budget that was delivered on a Monday. It was 1962. I was six years old. Tensions between Russia and

James Kirkup James Kirkup

How Cameron’s misreading of Merkel led to Brexit | 29 October 2018

It is impossible to overstate Angela Merkel’s significance, to Germany, to the EU, and to Britain. Others are better qualified than me to talk about the first two of those, but as she announces her (slow, deliberate) departure from office, I offer a thought about Merkel and Britain, which is that the modern history of Britain’s European policy has been a story of misunderstanding Angela Merkel, and therefore Germany. This story starts in 2005, when David Cameron stood for the Tory leadership. As a moderate, he was keen to woo the Right, especially on Europe. So he promised to pull the Tory MEPs out of the European People’s Party grouping in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why a no-deal Brexit would require an emergency Budget

Brexit overshadows this Budget. The story this morning has all been about Number 10 saying that the Budget won’t change in the event of no deal, in apparent contradiction of what Philip Hammond said yesterday. In truth, no deal would—obviously—have consequences for the public finances but the government’s initial reaction would be to try and stimulate the economy. Whatever anyone says now, no government would respond to no deal by taking demand out of the economy. So, yes there would be an emergency Budget. But it would be expansionary, not contractionary. It is not just Brexit though that has left Hammond with limited room for manoeuvre. Theresa May’s pledge of

The Spectator

Live: Budget 2018 – Philip Hammond announces the end of austerity

Philip Hammond has delivered his final Budget before Brexit. The Chancellor said that the era of austerity is coming to an end as he pledged extra cash for no deal preparations and slapped a digital services tax on tech giants such as Facebook and Google. He also revealed that the OBR has upped its growth forecast to 1.6 per cent for 2019/20. Here are the key announcements: Government abolishes the use of Private Finance Initiatives Extra £420m to repair potholes An extra £20.5bn for the NHS over the next five years A further £500m for the Housing Infrastructure Fund Fuel, beer, cider, spirits duties all frozen E-passport gates at UK

Sunday

Steerpike

Philip Hammond’s scheduling problem

Budget day is upon us and it’s safe to say that expectations have been set rather low when it comes to Philip Hammond’s big moment. The Chancellor has said he plans to remain a fiscal hawk – and warned that there will be a brand new Budget in the new year should a ‘no deal’ Brexit occur. Perhaps then it’s little wonder that the schedulers at the BBC don’t seem to regard the event as a showstopper event. In fact, the Times’s Patrick Kidd wonders if they are trying to send a message. During BBC2’s Budget coverage, BBC1 will be showing ‘Money for Nothing’, ‘Flog it!’ and ‘Pointless’: By around 5pm,

Saturday

Noreen O’Donovan Hage

It makes sense to keep Northern Ireland inside the customs union

Sir: What James Forsyth calls ‘the EU plan’ to keep Northern Ireland in the customs union after Brexit (‘The Irish problem’, 20 October) would no more ‘ease Northern Ireland away from the UK and push it more towards Dublin’s orbit’ than it has already done itself through numerous legislative differences. With regard to social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, Northern Ireland is far closer to the Republic (as it once was) than to the rest of the UK. It would therefore be no great stretch to avoid awkwardness of land border checks (and respect the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement) by having such checks at the sea ports.