Tory truce weathers the Autumn Statement

One of the most striking parts of Jeremy Hunt’s performance in the Commons chamber yesterday was how quiet MPs on the backbenches behind him were. There was little in the way of cheering as the Chancellor used his Autumn Statement to set out a series of tax rises and spending cuts. The front pages today reflect the unappetising package Hunt presented – with the Daily Mail accusing the Tories of ‘soaking the strivers’ and the Daily Telegraph lead headline quoting an economist who says the Chancellor has combined ‘the rhetoric of George Osborne and the policies of Gordon Brown’.

While Conservative MPs don’t like parts of it, there is a sense that it could have been worse

Yet there is little sign yet of a serious Tory rebellion against the measures. It’s certainly the case that many Tory MPs are unhappy about the direction of travel of mass tax rises. Senior Tories who served in Liz Truss’s government – such as former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and former levelling up secretary Simon Clarke – have made clear that they believe spending cuts are preferable to tax rises when it comes to filling the fiscal black hole.