On Wednesday, Rishi Sunak will deliver an economic impact assessment to the House of Commons in which the Chancellor is expected to announce a number of measures to stimulate the economy. With a £1.5bn package pledged today for the arts industry, the expectation is that Wednesday’s event will cement Johnson’s government as a comparatively high spend to the Tory governments that came before.
That evening, MPs will have their weekly meeting of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers. Only rather than the Chancellor update the parliamentary party and take part in a question and answer session, Coffee House can reveal MPs have been told Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will be the guest of honour. On the surface, this is an unprecedented move that has been met with surprise by Tory MPs. It is also bound to lead to questions being asked at a time when some are questioning the Bank of England’s independence. It is unclear whether Bailey also plans to hold a similar audience with Labour MPs.
However, Bailey’s appearance ought to at least shed some light on how the bank intends to work with the government in the coming months. In
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