Thursday 23rd March 2006

4pm update on the ToryDiary: WAKE UP TO GORDON BROWN (4): Waste

11.45am ToryDiary update: Tories prepare to sell 32 Smith Square?

BLOGS

ToryDiary: Gordon Brown can still excite the right-wing press

TAX FREEDOM DAY MOVES BACK ANOTHER THREE DAYS

Adam Smith Institute: "How long do we have to spend working for the government, rather than ourselves? The answer is nearly half the year.  The March 2005 Budget moved Tax Freedom Day later by 3 days. The March 2006 Budget means that this year we will have to work yet another three days for the government. These are both historically very large increases in the tax burden. And 3 June is the latest that Tax Freedom Day has been since 1988!"

TaxPayers' Alliance: "As predicted, Brown's Budget Speech did nothing to address the long-term political and economic challenges facing Britain... For a start, Brown ignored the warnings by Britain's leading business organisations that his increase in tax and regulation are making it more difficult to compete in the modern world. There was no reduction in corporation tax and no commitment to reducing the tax burden overall. The British tax burden is set to overtake the tax burden of Germany, widely viewed as one of the weakest in the EU in recent years. Britain has fallen down the league tables of international competitiveness in recent years and there was no sign from Brown that he is concerned about this. Despite his rhetoric about dealing with global economic challenges, the reality is that his Budget ignored key drivers of competitiveness."

Simon Heffer, The Telegraph: "The current Tory policy has it that tax cuts and economic stability are somehow incompatible. That is nonsense. Tax cuts have to be accompanied by cuts in spending, and the party is not prepared to countenance those. Instead, it now stands to inherit - should it ever come to power - an even more obscene level of Labour spending, which it is at present determined to maintain."

SPENDING WITHOUT REFORM

Andrew Haldenby, Reform’s Director: “The Chancellor’s key policy mistake has been a massive transfer of resources into an unreformed public sector.  His announcement of even larger spending increases on education and childcare only makes the situation worse.  The long term effect of this Budget will be a significantly higher tax burden and lower productivity and so depressed growth, living standards and competitiveness.”

BBCi: "Gordon Brown is facing criticism for not doing enough for the NHS in his Budget after a hospital announced job cuts - the fourth to do so in a week."

BROWN VERSUS CAMERON

The Sun: "Mr Brown had Labour MPs cheering as he even found cash to freeze champagne prices — to toast his arrival as Prime Minister.  But Mr Cameron, 39, infuriated the Chancellor by dismissing him as a dinosaur.  He accused him of propping up his spending spree by borrowing £175billion — or £6,000 for every family.  He played on their 16-year age difference with a string of gags accusing him of being outdated.  And he made a savage strike at Labour’s funding row by declaring: “Billions raised, billions spent, no idea where the money’s gone.  “With a record like that the Chancellor should be running for treasurer of the Labour Party.”  Mr Brown and Mr Cameron had never clashed in public before yesterday’s Commons showdown.  The Chancellor has destroyed every one of his Tory opponents in the last ten Budget speeches.  But yesterday Mr Cameron more than held his own despite a barrage of abuse from Labour MPs."

THE BUDGET AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The Guardian: "The chancellor sought to prove his environmental credentials through a series of eye-catching green initiatives including a crackdown on drivers of gas-guzzling four-by-fours, nicknamed "Chelsea tanks" for their inner-city popularity.  Buyers of the most polluting vehicles will have to pay a special rate of vehicle excise duty of £210 annually - an increase of £45 on the previous top band.  At the other end of the spectrum, a small number of hybrid vehicles with virtually no emissions will be exempt altogether through a zero-rated car tax."

Peter Ainsworth's response on conservatives.com:

"Forget the hype about a Green Budget: This was just Brown.  Yesterday, the Chancellor was criticised by a Cross-Party Select Committee for a "mystifying" reluctance to take the bold measures needed to combat our growing contribution to climate change. Today the mystery deepened.  The Budget merely tinkered at the edges of existing policy, and far from showing a genuine commitment to tackling climate change, featured only the green window dressing which is this Government's speciality.  A £20 increase in Vehicle Excise Duty is hardly likely to deter someone from buying a Porsche Cayenne. Where were the incentives to invest in clean technology?"

OTHER NEWS

Guardian - Tory peers abandon their opposition to glorification of terror clause.

Guardian on last night's TV: "Tory! Tory! Tory! revealed something shocking about Thatcher - she might actually have done a few things right."

Telegraph: "President George W Bush said yesterday that he was "deeply troubled" that an Afghan man might be tried for converting to Christianity.  Abdul Rahman, 41, faces a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago. He has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under the country's Islamic laws."

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