The Prime Minister must make up his mind whether or not to see through a policy to stop the small boats – now an issue of profound symbolic importance.
A party in office for fourteen at the likely time of the general election will find it hard to escape being held responsible for all that’s gone wrong. This can result in a vicious circle of unpopularity leading to division leading to greater unpopularity.
There is a limit to what can fairly and sensibly be achieved by raising other taxes and cutting public spending – especially when it comes to pay.
What is less recognised is the way in which David Cameron’s Government decided, not without risk to the Conservatives’ electoral prospects in some key marginals, to withhold patronage and money from some Muslim organisations that, fitfully, had gained both under Labour.
Here are six recent examples of how the Prime Minister has been mugged by reality.
The media has suggested there is something suspect about the Conservative Party’s receipt of private money.
And we chat to the young waiter, the question I’m asking is: “why wait until young people are 22 for auto-enrolment to begin?”
Looked at in the round, over the 2010-2016 period, the UK had the joint highest growth for a G7 economy, level with the US.
The calling-in of a planning application to open a coalmine at Whitehaven suggests prioritising green optics over Northern livelihoods.
Whatever guidelines there may be on engagement with organisations, no-one will take them seriously if the Government doesn’t do so itself.
The best way of thinking about it isn’t to fix one’s gaze on direct subsidies, but to look wider – at our failure to turn British ideas into British prosperity.
The lesson of the last year is poorer communities are much more vulnerable to the next virus or health emergency.
The sixth part of our series on reducing demand for government, in which we set out a programme for change – focused on families, civil society and government.