Best Of

Clearly Zara's move is unhelpful and will dominate the reports in the media. That said, I've been watching most of the conference online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-755kRtHWdw) and it's overwhelmingly polite and friendly - Lee's Harpin's description of "chaos" is just silly.

Your Party is a very silly name. It's lazy. We are whatever 'you' want us to be.

They should say what they are, and give people something to rally to.

Possibly the issue is that there's not really anything there they think people will want to rally to.

It was an interim name - the long-term name will be decided tomorrow.

"Decided Tomorrow" is the best they have come up with yet, although I still prefer the "Rebel Alliance". Gets them on a solid 3% base from Star Wars fans and describes the motley crew pretty well.

I suspect the trouble Reeves and Labour could be in over the budget will be not much related to the 'misleading'. Being misleading, when bits of a long narrative are examined, feels like par for the course to a cynical public.

The story which will run and run is of a government whose emphasis looks as if its big priority, at the expense of workers, is those on benefits, with a sub text of a priority of raising taxes to fund higher pay in the public sector, and a sub sub text of cushioning pensioners.

Thresholds + salary sacrifice + IHT on small businesses and farms + employers NI.

The DM and Goodwin can run benefits abuse stories every day. They exist. IMHO they are right to scrap the 2 child cap; but the issue of whether too much money is going in benefits in the wrong direction remains.

The dead hand of benefits (legislation) is the problem. Each benefit is legally paid according to the schedules set down in the various acts of Parliament. There will be bending of the rules in *some* cases which is currently measured at between 3%-4%. Also the benefits are paid after a lot of checking / cross checking / visits to a Tribunal so it's not that easy to get the largesse that the media suggests. The basic issue as has been laid out before is the need for a long term review of the legislation, its effects, and how does the nation provide a safety net for those that need help.

There are also a number of cliff edges within benefits legislation such as with Pension Credit and all the extras that come with it. Triple lock, WFA, and Motability all create these edges which allow people to create wedge issues in the media and politics.

But bear in mind, that the current welfare structure was designed over 20 years ago by someone called Ian Duncan Smith. He made a decent fist of it in that it has characteristics of an insurance scheme, but perhaps he needs to be called back to revisit his efforts and improve it.