Cameron v Balls
Cameron’s enjoying a bit of a duel with Ed Balls. After the latter again muttered something under his breath, Cameron responded: “Thank you. I know he’s the Minister for Children, but he doesn’t have to behave like one.”
Peter Hoskin
Wednesday
Cameron steps up
David Cameron’s begun his reponse to Darling’s speech. He’s started well, and is taking on the Chancellor over his dodgy figures and misrepresentations – exactly the right approach. He’s even discussing inflation Brownie-style. A nice vignette: Cameron pointed out that we’re facing record levels of tax. From across the House, Ed Balls utters: “So what?” Cameron
Drinkers clobbered
In an effort to stamp out binge-drinking, the taxes on alcohol will be increased. Beer prices will go up by 4p a pint; wine up 14p a bottle; cider up 3p a litre. And duties on alcohol will go up by 2 percent above inflation for the next 4 years. Bad time to be a drinker…
Here comes the green…
It’s been billed as the “Green Budget”. Here are some of Darling’s green announcements: 1) The Government are considering raising the carbon emissions target, for an 80% cut in emissions by 2050. 2) Legislation to be introduced for plastic bag charging. 3) New £26 million fund to help householders reduce emissions. 4) Reform of vehicle excise duty (including
Scant consolation
The loans available to small businesses are going to be increased. I suspect that small business owners would have preferred it if Brown hadn’t increased their taxes in Budget 2007.
Tackling poverty
At the moment, the Government’s going to miss its target to halve child poverty by 2010 by some distance. As expected, Darling’s trying to make up some of the ground. He’s announced: a planned increase in child benefit to be brought forward to April 2009. And the child element of Child Tax Credit will increase to £50
“Investment” not waste
Another Brown-style trick. Darling’s just waxing lyrical about the “record levels of investment” in public services. Never mind that we haven’t seen commensurate improvements in those services. Never mind all the waste. Like his boss, he’s also now talking about public service reform – “spending must be matched by reform” – shame they haven’t done that for the
Misrepresenting the truth
Darling’s just said that the UK is “better-placed” than any other country in the face of global slowdown. Do check out Fraser’s table, which proves our Chancellor wrong. Plenty of Brownies all round, in fact. He’s already talked about “low inflation”. We’ll put up a full analysis later.
Brownian emotion
It’s like Brown never left No.11. Alistair Darling started his Budget speech saying that it’s key purpose is “stability now and in the future”. I’ve already lost count of the times he’s said “stability”, and he’s only a couple of minutes in…
Middle-class squeeze
As Howard Reed put it earlier, public finances are so tight that the there won’t be many winners from today’s Budget. And all early signs indicate that the winners will either be the very richest or the very poorest members of society. For the rich: concessions on non-dom taxation and vague hints of a corporate
Tuesday
Budget 2008: What to expect
The Guardian’s politics blog has a great post outlining all the the latest “speculation, leaks and educated guesses” on tomorrow’s Budget. So far the most striking predictions are: 1) £5 billion of tax rises; 2) more cash for failing inner city schools and the Academies programme; 3) a tax on plastic bags, among a whole raft of
An unfashionable view
MPs will soon have to show receipts for all expenses claims over £25. After the Conway scandal, surely that’s a good thing? I think so. Yet the press release sent out by Martyn Jones MP – and highlighted over at Red Box – does make some persuasive points against. Here’s the key passage: “Monitoring an influx of allowance
Devolving responsibility
Three Line Whip are reporting that Paul Murphy, the current Welsh Secretary, is being lined up by Gordon Brown for a new Cabinet position – the Secretary of State for the UK’s devolved regions: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. After Lord Goldsmith’s suggestions this morning, it looks like another effort to coordinate Britishness.
A poll conundrum
The latest Times / Populus poll places the Tories on 37 percent (down 3 on last month); Labour on 34 percent (up 3); and the Lib Dems on 19 percent (up 2). The poll was conducted at the weekend – after the vote for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty – making the Labour and Lib Dem gains
Backing the big-earners
I said yesterday that it’d be a good idea for the Government to use tomorrow’s Budget as a peace offering to the business world. After Northern Wreck and the non-dom taxation row, bridges need rebuilding. The charm offensive’s begun a day early. Today John Hutton is delivering a speech to the think-tank Progress, in which he’ll salute those at the top of the salary
Swearing allegiance
Lord Goldsmith will today release his review into British citizenship and social cohesion. One of his ideas: that all school-leavers take part in ceremonies to swear allegiance to the Queen. It’s window dressing, a pretty policy that won’t achieve anything. After all, the situation’s becoming grimmer for those school-leavers. They’re faced by high levels of tax;
Monday
Storm Watch UK
Trearddur, North Wales
Oil-and-water politics
In an article for the FT, Gordon Brown makes his strongest commitment yet to public service reform. As he puts it: “…there can be no backtracking on reform, no go-slow, no reversals and no easy compromises. Indeed, to meet these new demands it is now time to go further and move to the third stage
Budget 2008: Sending out a message
As Dr Oliver Hartwich outlined on Coffee House yesterday, The Treasury doesn’t have much room for manoeuvre ahead of Wednesday’s Budget. In short: it’s down to our economy being taxed, spent and borrowed up to the hilt. Even shorter: it’s down to Gordon Brown’s decade as Chancellor. What, then, can Alistair Darling use the Budget for? He’d have found some inspiration
Friday
Targeted taxation
Massive increases in the tax on alcohol have recently been mooted as a way to stem the binge-drinking culture. Yet how does the government go about this without unfairly penalising the 90 percent of drinkers who don’t consume alcohol to excess? Today, George Osborne offers a solution. His idea is to only increase the tax on those drinks which are associated with binge-drinking. So alco-pops and cider
