John Healey is saying all the right things ahead of his first Budget next week. In an interview with the Times he declared he wanted to back “bloody-minded entrepreneurs” and appeared to acknowledged that choices taken by his predecessor on employment law, tax and regulation had made their live harder. He even said he wanted businesses to make a profit!
So should we expect a radical, pro-growth Budget? Don’t get your hopes up. The one thing we know will be included is a bank tax. If Healey really believed in the profit motive he wouldn’t inflict windfall taxes on a sector just because it’s doing well.
My prediction is this will be a completely conventional tax and spend Budget which just about get the sums to add up. The real radicalism will come when Burnham calls an early election next year and stands on a socialist manifesto.
And if you want to know what socialism looks like, look at Lewisham, where the Green council has forced Landsec to withdraw from plans to build hundreds of new homes. You can read more about that below.
Here are some of the best pieces from this week’s City AM opinion pages. Enjoy and have a great weekend.
Alys
Blocking Lewisham Shopping Centre proves Zack Polanski’s Greens are the worst force in UK politics
Lewisham’s Green council has forced Landsec to pull out of shovel-ready plans to redevelop the shopping centre after objecting that it did not contain enough social homes. This is real-time evidence of the damage socialism does to an economy, says Alys Denby.
Business needs to speak up in Britain’s battle of ideas
Politics is about to get more stark and much more consequential. Business leaders need to be pragmatic, dealing with the government of the day. But it strikes me that in this battle of ideas, they need to stand up for what works – especially when the country we all love is going in the wrong direction, says Liam Halligan.
Approving Jackdaw is just a distraction from Labour’s obsession with net stupid zero
Labour may have approved the Jackdaw gas field, but it is still set on destroying our industrial base to save the planet. It’s engaged in unilateral economic disarmament so China can sell us the cars we used to build. We must reverse this madness, licence drilling in the North Sea, and make energy abundant again, says Richard Tice
It’s too late for Farage to clean up Reform UK’s act
Facing allegations of racism, bigotry and sexism, can Nigel Farage clean up Reform UK’s act? It’s not even clear that he wants to, writes Eliot Wilson.
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