Boris Johnson has accidentally said that he would cut National Insurance contributions if elected, with no workers having to pay anything in until they earn £95,000, with the threshold rising to £12,500 after an unspecified time. It has not been made clear where this money is to come from, and the heady Institute for Fiscal Studies placed the bill at £2billion. Labour said that this spending would hit public services, which is kinda what the are doing.
Gerry doesn’t think this is sustainable…
Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn both managed to get nowhere in 55 minutes as the first election debate was held by ITV. With a disastrous presenter in Julie Etchingham, and a dreadful format, they both struggled to get any coherent responses back to the evidently biased and generic questioners. There will be another chance on Friday to set the score straight.
Gerry thinks Johnson did much butter than old Grandpa Jezza…
Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, and Jo Swinson are to set out their plans for business as the launch of manifestos draws closer. Corbyn is to announce 32,000 new apprenticeships, Johnson some tax cuts, and Swinson will say that the Lib Dems are really the part of business because they won’t let the damage of leaving the EU, well, happen.
Gerry doesn’t think the big two are going to deliver if elected on getting the economy back on its feet…
Boris Johnson has stuck a clear dividing line between him and Jeremy Corbyn by supporting the idea that the Home Office will attempt to reduce immigration ‘overall’, a pledge that many Tories have tried and failed to achieve. It was announced by Home Secretary Priti Patel, and so has no credibility.
At least she is not proposing to hang anyone just yet, Gerry supposes…
Former Tory Cabinet minister David Gauke has announced that he is to stand in the election as an independent candidate on a second referendum platform. Gauke was previously the Justice Secretary and was exiled after voting against no-deal, and said that a Johnson majority would be ‘very bad for our country’.
Gerry thinks he’s right…
Labour has announced a £3billion plan for adult education, taking the idea from a Lib Dem proposal for £10,00 for every adult as a result of increasing corporation tax. Labour, however, have of course not clearly stated where in the world this huge amount of money is going to come from, with the CBI saying that the plan was ‘too expensive’.
Gerry thinks so too…
Jo Swinson has said that a Lib Dem government would enable a ‘skills wallet’ of £10,00 for every adult to provide them with education in the workplace. The party has said that it would pay for this by reversing the government’s reduction of corporation tax, putting it back up to 20%.
Gerry thinks they need to show that they have a life beyond Brexit…
Both Sajid Javid and John McDonnell pledged huge amounts of money to public services through borrowing as the ‘age of austerity’ was definitively brought to a close yesterday. Javid promised to put in billions to public services and borrow to fund more spending plans, while Labour have said that if elected they will spread what wealth and growth is left out of London and to the North and Midlands. A spending pot of £250 billion is apparently to be found somewhere, going to wards a ‘Green Transformation Project’.
Gerry doesn’t think they will have the cash…
The long-suspected Remain Alliance has finally come to electoral fruition with the announcement that around 65 constituencies will see the Lib Dems and Greens not standing against each other, extending to Plaid Cymru in Wales. It should help to get a united Remain voice, with Boris Johnson still coping with the threat of the Brexit Party to split his vote and stop Labour leavers coming over the Tories.
Gerry is pleased at this benevolent cooperation…
Labour Deputy leader Tom Watson has stood down, a move which help Corbyn to put in a loyal apparatchik in his place. Watson cited ‘personal, not political reasons’ for his departure, but relations with Head Office have been tetchy to say the least, with Watson’s consistent drive for a second referendum divisive despite that supposedly being the party position.
Gerry will not forget his shameful virtue-signalling in the Carl Beech inquiry…
