An unfamiliar mood before the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Budget briefing today: many of the gathered journalists, economists and policymakers had decided that, for once, this wouldn’t be an exercise in spotting the Chancellor’s deceptions, because, quite simply, there aren’t many. And they could well be right. In his introductory remarks, Robert Chote, the director
Well, that’s gone as well as can be expected for the coalition. Most of today’s newspaper coverage highlights the severity of George Osborne’s Budget – but, crucially, it adds that the Chancellor had few other options. The Telegraph calls it a “brave Budget”. The Times says that it delivers “the best of fiscal conservatism combined
By her usual standards, Harriet Harman was quite effective in her response to George Osborne’s Budget earlier. She was clear, direct and had a few gags at Vince Cable’s expense. And she also benefitted from what, on the surface, was a strong central attack: the Office for Budget Responsibility, she said, has downgraded its jobs
Debt may start falling as a share of GDP at the end of this Parliament (see p.2 here), but it’s still going up in cash terms. Here’s a comparison with Labour’s last Budget:
Well, that was excitingly unexciting. There was little in George Osborne’s Budget that we didn’t expect, either in terms of rhetoric or policy. But it still felt new and different nonetheless. Here we had a Chancellor setting out exactly how much spending he will cut, and putting plenty of emphasis on both our deficit and
1343, PH: Harman has sat down now, so we’ll draw the live blog to a close. I’ll write a summary post shortly. 1342, FN: I wish I could trash Harman’s response, but it’s actually quite good. Many a Tory would be secretly cheering her trashing of the LibDems. “The LibDems denounced early cuts, now they’re
During the Brown years it was “stability,” but it looks as though the watchword for Chancellor Osborne’s first Budget will be “progressive”. This is the word that’s being bandied about behind-the-scenes, and the coalition seems confident that it has the policies to match the rhetoric. As the Guardian reports today, it’s likely that the personal
There are plenty of details for Budget-spotters to look out for tomorrow, but among the most important is just how far Osborne reaches into the future. The current expectation in Westminster is that he will offer quite a few glimpses into the long-term. A possible commitment to reduce the main rate of corporation tax to
There are two main aspects to the VAT issue: one distasteful, the other less so. The distasteful one is the issue of whether the government has a mandate for hiking VAT in tomorrow’s Budget. Of course, government is often the art of the unexpected, so we shouldn’t be surprised to see measures implemented that weren’t
One of the leitmotifs of this Parliament – and something which, by many inside accounts, is helping the coalition immensely – is the willingness of the civil service to wield the axe within their own departments. And now, courtesy of Reform and the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a new survey suggests that this mentality may
With the cuts comes the candy: the sweet-tasting morsels which, it is hoped, will prevent tomorrow’s Budget from being too much of a collective downer for the nation. We’re already hearing that a council tax freeze will be pencilled in for next year, and you can expect a few more treats besides. National insurance, for
It’s days like this when you realise just how stuck Labour are in a Brownite groove. Everywhere you turn, there’s some leadership candidate or other attacking the government for choosing to cut public spending this year. Ed Miliband claims that the Lib Dems have been “completely macho … completely cavalier” about cuts. Andy Burnham says
While we’re enjoying a burst of optimism about the coalition, it’s worth highlighting the news that John Hutton has been put in charge of a review into public sector pensions. As I’ve said before, Hutton was one of the most quietly impressive figures of the New Labour era, and someone who impressed during his time
Alastair Campbell is right on two counts. First, that this snippet from George Parker’s Budget preview is pretty fascinating: “Senior Lib Dems whisper that Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, never really believed his pre-election rhetoric that cuts should be delayed until 2011.” And, second, that the claim about Cable is downright unbelievable. I
It’s hard to overestimate the significance of Tuesday’s Budget. George Osborne’s statement won’t just determine the course of our economy for the next few years, but also the political life of this government. Spending cuts and tax rises may not inevitably “fracture the coalition,” as Peter Oborne puts it in the Mail today. But they
After all the hoo-haa about Lord Ashcroft’s tax status, it’s only fair to mention this passage from his interview with the Telegraph today: “He explains that new laws brought in under the Coalition mean that all members of the Lords will have to be fully taxed. Yes, I reply, but when does he plan to
Tick, tock, tick, tock: only three-and-a-bit days to go until George Osborne’s long-anticipated austerity Budget, and the coalition is gearing up its efforts to prepare us for the worst. Exhibit A is David Cameron’s interview in the Times this morning, which contains few pleasantries and a whole heap of stern talk – particularly for those
There’s an historic tinge to proceedings this morning, as Michael Gove prepares to release an application form by which parents, charities and other groups can establish free schools. In effect, this is zero hour for the policy that The Spectator described as “reason enough to vote Conservative” a couple of months ago. The coalition is
American politics often plays like a bloodsport, but the appearance of BP’s Tony Hayward before a congressional hearing today has been in a league all of its own. Things were already looking decidedly brutal at the start of the morning session, when Hayward was subjected to a solid hour of attacks and accusations from the
So David Cameron strides onto the European stage today, with his first EU summit since becoming Prime Minister. And early signs are that it’s going to be a peculiar day for him. As Ben Brogan writes in the Telegraph, Europe seems to be liking the (liberal-democratised) Tories more than they thought they would. Sarkozy is,