November 26: Osborne looks to build on firm foundations

THIS was not just an Autumn Statement which set out the Government’s economic and spending parameters for the duration of this Parliament. It was also a political pitch for power by George Osborne in which he reaffirmed his position as David Cameron’s most likely successor.

Like Gordon Brown during the New Labour years, Mr Osborne is not afraid to use these setpiece speeches to assert his authority over possible rivals – the Chancellor clearly wanted to take the credit for the decision to protect police spending rather than afford Theresa May this opportunity.

But it is here that the similarities end. For, while Mr Brown presided over a reckless expansion of the public sector and state apparatus that proved impossible to sustain, the current occupant of 11 Downing Street is trying to bring about a greater focus to spending.

He is right to do so. For, while public spending will, contrary to perception, continue to rise every year until the 2020 election, this expenditure does need to be reined in to ensure that it can be supported by a still fragile economy, and without the need to resort to tax increases.

This also assumes that Mr Osborne’s economic forecasts are accurate – the Chancellor surprised many by announcing that the state of the public finances had, in fact, improved by £27bn since the summer Budget in July and that the Government is still on 
track to record a surplus 
by 2019-20.

This goes a long way to explaining why Mr Osborne could protect police spending, front-load previously promised additional investment in the National Health Service and reverse controversial changes to tax credits which threatened to penalise the very people who are striving to become less dependent on the benevolence of the welfare system.

He has proved to be a listening Chancellor while also not deviating from his primary purpose which is to make the country’s finances more resilient so it is better placed to withstand future turbulence within the global economy – he is clearly determined to make the most of the fact that Britain is now the best performing G7 country.

That this country is set to enjoy a steady increase in GDP over the next five years – increases in growth are projected to vary between 2.3 and 2.5 per cent – also suggests that Mr Osborne is presiding over a recovery which is being built to last rather than Labour’s “boom and bust” economics.

Yet two significant imponderables remain. The first is the precise identity of the services to be cut – the Chancellor was at pains to point out those areas of spending that will be protected. The other is Yorkshire’s devolution deal – this remains the one region which has not yet reached an agreement with the Treasury on its future governance. Mr Osborne should be experienced enough to realise that both will be critical to making sure that this Autumn Statement transforms Yorkshire and the North into the economic powerhouse that he so envisages. In the spirit of the Chancellor’s oft-repeated line about Britain becoming a nation of builders, he now needs to build on the firm foundations that he has already laid.

Winds of change: Inconsistencies in energy policy

AS DAVID Cameron sets out the case for British military intervention in Syria in the wake of the Paris terror atrocity, it is an irony of timing that the French capital will be the centre of world attention when it hosts the United Nations Climate Change Conference next week.

Though many regard international terrorism and environmental matters as separate entities, there are those – Prince Charles and Jeremy Corbyn included – who believe the Syrian 
civil war was exacerbated by a drought six years ago which forced many people to reluctantly leave their land.

Yet, while others regard this link as a tenuous one, there will be consternation at the findings of the UK Committee on Climate Change which says Britain will have to reduce its greenhouse gas targets by 57 per cent by 2030 in order to meet obligations that were made as long ago as 1990.

Although the committee’s chairman, Lord Debden, is at pains to point out that this need not affect people’s lifestyles, he seems to overlook the fact that it is so-called green taxes which have left the UK steel industry fighting for its very existence and that longstanding plans to introduce pioneering carbon-capture technology at Drax power station remain up in the air because of Government uncertainty. As such, this report is a powerful reminder that Britain needs a joined-up energy policy which is sensitive to the environment while safeguarding the interests of industry and business. Unfortunately, this will not happen when the Government’s approach to policy appears to depend 
on the direction of the political wind.