IS A ‘ WINTER OF DISCONTENT’ ON ITS WAY FOR GOVERNMENT?–
Aftera less than relaxing summer break, Boris Johnson returns to Whitehall today with a number of firesto fight. Geraldine Scott reports.
AS MPS return to Parliament today, the political landscape is far different to what Boris Johnson might have expected nine months after an election which saw him command an 80- seat majority.
It will not be easy to deal with bubbling discontent on the Conservative back benches and the task of balancing the books after massive spending on coronavirus, plus the mountain to climb to rebuild bridges between No 10 and the rest of government.
Here are some of the issues which will be in Boris Johnson’s in- tray.
BACKTOSCHOOL
It is not just the first day back for MPs today, children across England are heading back into the classroom for the first time since schools closed in March due to coronavirus.
Some 97 per cent of schools plan to welcome all pupils full- time from the start of the autumn term today, and will have a range of recommended safety measures in place.
And although any major disasters may have been averted, despite a U- turn on the wearing of masks, there are calls from Labour for Ministers to look forward into next year and push back A- Level and GCSE exams to allow pupils who missed out this year to catch up.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “I do not underestimate how challenging the last few months have been but I do know how important it is for children to be back in school, not only for their education but for their development and wellbeing too.”
TAXRISES
All eyes will be on Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the next few months as the golden boy of the coronavirus pandemic looks set for a rougher ride as he attempts to make the Treasury’s bottom line a bit more palatable.
Public sector debt hit more than £ 2 trillion for the first time in history earlier this month as Ministers invested billions of pounds to support the economy through the pandemic, new figures have revealed.
The Office for National Statistics said official bodies
borrowed £ 26.7bn in July, the fourth highest amount of any month since records began in 1993.
Mr Sunak’s big ticket giveaways have been welcomed.
But it is easy to be popular when you are giving, less so when you are taking, and that is the task Mr Sunak faces now.
The Richmond MP has been warned against tax hikes in his November budget, with Conservative backbenchers fearing they would damage economic recovery, Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis said: “At the moment the economy is in such a fragile state that pushing tax rates up is very unwise.”
It followed speculation the Treasury could raise £ 20bn through extra levies to deal with the fallout from Covid- 19.
And Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay this weekend refused to comment on reports that pension tax relief could be cut, capital gains tax
increased, and corporation tax adjusted from 19 per cent to 24 per cent.
SHUTTING THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A new government department combining the Foreign Office and Department for International Development ( Dfid) will launch tomorrow, much to the anger of Rotherham MP, Labour’s Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons International Development Committee. She told The Guardian: “The Government needs to be vigilant to make sure
there is no whiff of tied aid or it will seriously undermine the credibility of our foreign policy.
“To maintain our international reputation, we need to be visibly acting with integrity when it comes to our aid programme.”
The foreign aid budget has been reported to be under scrutiny as an area where the Treasury can possibly save some more money – currently the Government commits
0.7 per cent of gross national income ( GNI) to foreign aid and continuing this was a Conservative manifesto promise.
The aid budget has already been cut by £ 2.9bn from £ 15.8bn this year, due to the contraction in the economy caused by the Covid- 19 outbreak. However, the Government insists it still meets its obligation.
Treasury sources said that they do not comment on upcoming Budgets.
BREXIT
As the prospect of a nodeal Brexit hurtles ever closer, with a deadline of reaching an agreement by the end of the year now just three months away, negotiations between the UK and the trading bloc look gloomy.
Red lines set by both sides seem immovable and although it can be expected that a certain amount of brinkmanship is on show, an increased focus on new advisory groups, set up to support the UK’s post- Brexit trade talks, signals that perhaps officials are not confident of success.
EU negotiator Michel Barnier has warned agreeing a deal before the deadline currently “seems unlikely”, as he suggested Britain is “wasting valuable time”.
His UK counterpart David Frost also warned “there has been little progress” after the conclusion of the seventh round of talks at the end of August.
FREEPORTS
One of the Government’s postBrexit hopes is to launch a series of freeports,
Mr Sunak is said to be planning to open bidding for towns, cities and regions to become freeports – where UK taxes and tariffs will not apply – in his autumn Budget.
And the ports will be “fully operational” within 18 months of the UK leaving the customs union and single market at the end of this year.
Yorkshire could be in the running for a site, with Humber Ports in Grimsby, Immingham, Hull, and Goole, as well as Doncaster Sheffield Airport ( DSA), all interested in the classification.
Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher said: “DSA and iPort [ an 800- acre logistics park] make Doncaster the perfect place for one of the country’s ten new freeports.
“These tariff- free areas with additional tax breaks will turbocharge the local economy and prove to the Government that if you give the good people of Don Valley an opportunity they will grab it with both hands and level up the country themselves.”
NORTHYORKSHIRE DEVOLUTION
The Conservative promise to pass more powers down to regions continues with North Yorkshire next on the line.
Devolution deals have now been delivered in West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, and Ministers insist that even with the huge bill for coronavirus, they are committed to the levelling up agenda touted at the election.
Pushing on with plans may help calm the jitters of many Tory MPs in former Red Wall seats, who are said to be amongst the most unsettled on the back benches. But before North Yorkshire can be handed the money and powers it is after, local leaders have to finish up their bun fight over how local government will be organised.
Communities minister Simon Clarke has told councillors that at least one unitary authority must be created for devolution to be possible, and differing proposals for how that might look have to be handed over this month.
The economy is in such a fragile state... pushing tax rates up is unwise. David Davis, Haltemprice and Howden MP, reacts to reports that tax rates may go up.