Who is popular today?

Most MPs see a return to austerity as politically toxic – yet a tax rise could pitch One Nation and red wall Tories against the traditionalists
When Rishi Sunak appeared in a press conference in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, he used three words to convey to the public his commitment to steer the UK through the crisis: “whatever it takes”. It was a phrase that immediately won him plaudits from both Conservative supporters and those on the left, for whom Boris Johnson’s demeanour has often proved a turn-off. The £350bn package that he announced alongside it – from business loans to the furlough scheme – also helped.
But it’s one that has since come back to haunt the man who has become the most popular politician in the country. With the deficit for the financial year forecast at more than £300bn, he and his team have found it difficult to turn the taps off. There have been a string of government U-turns owing to parliamentary pressure on issues from the NHS surcharge to free school meals. Each time, the recurring line has been that the paltry sum of a few million is nothing in the grand scheme of things. And after all, the chancellor said he would help. “The focus should be on the billions not the millions,” says one MP. Continue reading...