Few can doubt that the Tories left office with the public finances in a dire state. But it takes two parties not to talk about the tax rises necessary to plug that gap. Indeed, no lesser authority than the Institute for Government’s Paul Johnson accused both Labour and the Conservatives during the campaign of being complicit in a “conspiracy of silence” over their spending plans.
And so, today’s speech by Rachel Reeves is the inevitable result. There is hard economics to be dealt with — Britain can only fix its finances through spending cuts, tax rises or borrowings. But this is about politics. The Chancellor, like all her predecessors, wants to shift as much of the blame onto the other side and in doing so, avoid much of the blame. It is likely to be successful.
But tax rises are not without risk. Raids on the rich may prove politically popular, but they would rub uncomfortably against Labour’s stated desire to demonstrate that Britain is “open for business”. The principal challenge for Labour is not simply how much it can raise, but rather whether it is seen to spend the money wisely, in ways that improve public services and support sustainable growth.
Don’t derail HS2
This nation is famous for muddling through. The term “classic British fudge” is often meant as a compliment. Far better than extremism or “no compromise”. Yet when it comes to HS2 there is less reason for self-congratulation.
No plans have been finalised. But the prospect of a line supposed to run from the centre of the capital to the North now possibly only extending from a little-known suburb of west London to Birmingham would make for national embarrassment.
In that scenario, passengers (and, indeed, taxpayers) would be stuck with the worst of both worlds. A supposedly high-speed, high-capacity line that delivered on neither of those promises. London does not need another train terminus, where travellers will then be funnelled onto the Elizabeth line to get to where they actually want to go. Instead, the Government, working with the private sector, must ensure that HS2 completes the journey to Euston.
Comeback kings
It is quite literally less than a blink of an eye. Adam Peaty missed out on gold at the 100m breaststroke final by two one hundredths of a second. But Peaty knows better than most the scale of his achievement just to have made it to Paris. The three-time Olympic champion has suffered years of mental health turmoil.
And then today, Tom Daley marked his return alongside his partner, Noah Williams, in the men’s 10m synchro final, finishing second. Team GB may be awaiting its first gold, but the comeback storylines keep on rolling.
