Ask a different minister, get a different pained expression. This morning, it was the turn of Policing Minister Kit Malthouse to leave the door open to a windfall tax on the oil and gas companies.
The debate over whether and how to tax Shell, BP and others has become totemic, even though such a levy would not itself douse the flames of the cost of living crisis.
According to the Labour Party, it might raise between £1-2 billion. That is significant, but energy costs have risen by tens of billions of pounds.
Yet the fact that the Government is in such a state of confusion is in many ways the real problem. The Prime Minister and Chancellor do not seem to know whether they wish to support people, how they should do so, where those funds might come from, and whether it would be best to act now or in the autumn. These are basic questions of governance.
Instead, we have a Conservative Party gripped by briefing and counter briefing, on the back foot on the major issue of the day. All the while, as we reveal in today’s paper, Labour extends its lead on the cost of living crisis. An Ipsos Mori survey for the Standard finds that 37 per cent of people most trust Keir Starmer’s party to reduce their or their family’s cost of living, compared with 22 per cent for the Tories.
The economy, inflation, and energy prices — all are set to get worse before they get better. The British public accepts that these are global phenomena. But they expect ministers to demonstrate they have a grip on what they can control — their response.
A government can never appear to be flailing. Once the public loses confidence, it is hard to recover it, no matter how strongly the economy eventually bounces back.
Elizabeth’s bold future
The Tube map is London’s self-portrait. And now Harry Beck’s masterpiece of design simplicity has a new bold new stroke — the Elizabeth line.
It not only illustrates how to get from Abbey Wood to Tottenham Court Road — in 23 minutes compared with the present 51 — but also marks the progress our city is making. The Northern line extension was one thing — a whole new purple splash on the map represents quite another.
There will of course be controversy. The line is striped rather than blocked, to reinforce that it is not technically a tube line. There is also debate over whether it is to be known as the Elizabeth line rather than simply Elizabeth, akin to in-station route maps that refer only to Victoria or Piccadilly lines. We take these questions of taste extremely seriously.
But the most important aspect isn’t the map, the colour or even the name. The new line is a symbol of London’s future. One we cannot wait to embark on.
Wagatha verdict
Every great detective novel must come to a thrilling end. The Wagatha Christie trial reaches its final day today, as the respective lawyers make their closing arguments.
Amid a cost of living crisis, the Rooneys and Vardys have performed an admirable public service.
And that is all she wrote until... the judge’s verdict.
