Johnson fights back
In the wake of last week’s confidence vote, Boris Johnson sought to reset his premiership with a speech in Blackpool outlining the Government’s policy agenda. He promised to use “fiscal firepower” to ease the cost-ofliving crisis; to tackle long-standing problems such as unaffordable childcare; and to build a high-growth, low-tax economy where everyone could buy their own home.
The PM’s speech was overshadowed by gloomy economic news. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted last week that Britain would be the worst-performing G20 economy after Russia next year, with zero growth, owing to high inflation, interest-rate hikes and rising taxes.
Data released this week showed that the UK’s GDP shrank by 0.3% in April, and that real pay is falling at the fastest rate in more than a decade. The RAC lamented a “truly dark day” for drivers as the cost of filling a typical family car with petrol topped £100 for the first time.
What the editorials said
What with the cost-of-living crisis, looming strikes, failing public services and a slowing economy, the UK is beset with challenges, said The Sunday Telegraph. But all is not lost. Although Johnson’s personal authority has been “severely weakened”, his Government still enjoys a solid majority with which to pass legislation. It should use it now to pursue a bold, tax-cutting agenda. There’s still time to “attempt a last-ditch rewrite of the narrative of a term that has become a florid tale of wallpaper and parties when it should have been about reform and reinvention”.
The Tories have for too long ducked “hard choices”, said The Economist. Since the 20072009 financial crisis, the UK has been stuck in a “rut” of sluggish growth. This is partly down to a fear of upsetting the electorally powerful “homeowning elderly”, which has led the Tories to dump planning reforms and heap tax rises on businesses and workers instead. It’s hard to see the Tories coming up with a coherent growth plan now, said The Observer. The PM and the Chancellor can’t even agree on a common approach: they had to call off the joint speech they were due to give this week.
What the commentators said
Drafting new policies can be a good way of rebooting a premiership, said Paul Waugh in The i Paper, but not when they’re as “half-baked” as the plans Johnson unveiled last week. From the housing proposals (see page 20) to the talk of “supply-side” reforms, it gave “the impression of activity” while clarifying very little. Johnson is great at “promising nebulous things he thinks people want to hear”, but there are limits to this tactic, said Madeline Grant in The Daily Telegraph. How many voters will buy into the idea that you “can fight inflation with inflationary policies, cut taxes while raising them, solve the housing crisis by stoking demand without supply, and so on”? The PM will need concrete, radical policies to deliver real change, said James Forsyth in The Times. But it will be almost impossible for him to pursue such policies, as he can’t afford to upset any of his MPs. “The rebels need only 32 more votes to oust him.”
Business leaders are in despair at the “endless political chaos and policy flip-flopping”, said Oliver Shah in The Sunday Times. They’ve warned that the country could slip into a deep recession without a coherent economic rescue plan. The success of the furlough scheme “shows what can be achieved by ministers and mandarins when they put their minds to it, and when departments work together”. To revive business confidence, we just need a PM who can “adopt a few key pro-growth measures and stick with them”. Britain needs a “sense of direction”, agreed Vernon Bogdanor in the Financial Times. The problem is, there’s no guarantee that Johnson’s successor would be any more likely to provide one. Johnson’s populist style and lack of “philosophical underpinning” has masked the “ideological divisions” in his party. It will be very hard for the Tories to agree on a way forward, split as they are between free marketeers and those who favour a more interventionist state. The ousting of Johnson would expose that reality and force the Tories to answer the long-dodged question of what sort of party they are to be. “Perhaps Conservatives should be careful what they wish for.”
What next?
Johnson wants to firm up support on the Tory right by reversing the Chancellor’s plan to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April next year, reports The Times. A senior Conservative source said the PM was prepared to have a “big fight” with Rishi Sunak over the issue.
The Government, meanwhile, has accused some fuel retailers of profiteering and not passing on March’s 5p cut in fuel duty. The Competition and Markets Authority is looking into the matter and has threatened to launch a formal investigation if it finds evidence of consumers being cheated.