The Chancellor should pursue new welfare reforms focused on intergenerational fairness.
He cannot wave away the possibility, even the likelihood, of recession returning before 2020.
Plus: Osborne squeezes the rich till their pips squeak. Prime Minister Corbyn, and other fantasises. Stephen McPartland has balls of steel. And: No breast jokes here.
I think a deal on development is actually possible. The two sides are not as far apart as they often seem.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor will undoubtedly now be brooding about means of getting the Home Secretary out of the Home Office.
Also: SNP forced into tax credits u-turn; Welsh Government fears grant cuts; support for united Ireland falls to 13 per cent; and more.
Plus: The Enemy Within rings me during my LBC programme. Back Hunt – defy the BMA. And: I want to buy Margaret Thatcher’s clothes.
The Government finds itself boxed in by its own decisions.
The number of rebels has risen; it is concentrated among post-2005 intake Tories, and in seats that are either marginal or were until recently.
Spending rose by 331 per cent over the New Labour years. The current Chancellor wanted to decrease it by 19 per cent.
Friedman and Hayek’s beloved policy would help the poor, make work pay and fulfil the surplus target.
By helping in-work tax credits claimants work just an hour a day more…the savings to the Exchequer would come to a staggering £4.1 billion.