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Peter Kellner

The Pollster

Osborne’s lucky escape

The Chancellor and Prime Minister should resurrect their charitable sides and repair the Budget’s damage

by Peter Kellner / March 24, 2016 / Leave a comment
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Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (centre) and Conservative candidate for Mayor of London Zac Goldsmith (right) meet Network Rail workers at Northumberland Park Station in Tottenham, north London, where work is being carried out on the London to Cambridge line.

George Osborne (centre), Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Zac Goldsmith, Conservative London Mayoral candidate, with Network Rail workers at Northumberland Park Station in London ©Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Read more: Budget 2016: the Prospect panel 

George Osborne has got away with it for now; but for how long? The terrible events in Brussels have diverted attention from the row over benefits for disabled people; and Jeremy Corbyn’s ineffective performances in the House of Commons on Monday and Wednesday mean that Labour has missed its opportunity to benefit from the government’s discomfort.

But the issue will not die. It is bound to resurface. And by “issue” I mean not just the specific matter of the latest benefit cuts: these have been abandoned, and are unlikely to resurface before the next election. Rather, I mean something deeper. The real danger to the Tories is their apparent inability to shed their image of a party of the toffs, for the toffs, run by the toffs.

Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation from the position of Secretary for…

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About this author

Peter Kellner
Peter Kellner is former President of YouGov and a political analyst and commentator
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