George Osborne has angered Tory MPs today by suggesting a vote to leave the European Union could trigger a series of tax rises. 57 Conservative MPs have signed a letter saying that they would not support such a motion in Parliament in a move which left Osborne flailing during a tetchy interview on the Today programme this morning. So why did the Chancellor run the risk of winding up those on the Tory backbenches? And will it do anything to scare people into backing ‘Remain’? On today’s Coffee House Shots podcast, Isabel Hardman joins Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth, who says:
‘I think the aim of this was to shift the topic back onto the economy – to wrench it there by whatever means necessary. It was designed to be provocatively dramatic. We all know that in the actual event of a Brexit, the last thing a Government would do would be to fiscally tighten because it would be worried about the economy softening.’
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