Adam Smith Institute
Executive Director Sam Bowman said:
“It’s tempting to laugh at today’s speech but really it was quite sad. The Tories seem to have no idea what to do about housing, because they’re so afraid of alienating their base that they won’t do any substantive policy that could properly boost the supply of new homes. Again and again this week people asked how to connect with younger voters – the simple answer is to give them somewhere to live… Planning is the huge bottleneck here that is stopping millions of new houses from being built privately and affordably, and if the Conservatives are going to bury their heads in the sand about that then eventually voters will punish them for it.”
Institute of Directors:
Stephen Martin, Director General, said:
“You have a Conservative Party which talks about the importance of markets, but then tinkers around with help to buy and energy price caps. What are business leaders meant to make of it all? At this pivotal moment in this country’s history, far too little time has been spent explaining the plan for how we leave the European Union, or debating how we tackle the long-term challenges that face our economy. We have had positive messages on the importance of skills, and more funding for transport in the North, but we need to see serious proposals at the Budget to boost what is now wavering confidence in the wider economy.”
TaxPayers’ Alliance
John O’Connell, Chief Executive said:
“Despite claiming to be the ‘party of low taxes’, the current government plans to increase the tax burden to levels unseen since the 1960s. If the government is serious about solving the housing crisis then it needs to take on vested interests and NIMBYs, but sadly there’s little sign that that they have the courage to do so. The Prime Minister is right that families are struggling to cope with the rise in energy bills, and this is due to green taxes and subsidies. Instead of intervening in the market, the Government should stand up to the green lobby and slash unnecessary taxes and subsidies that artificially inflate the cost of energy for families.”
Mark Littlewood, Director General, said:
“The Prime Minister’s encouraging rhetoric was followed up with the wrong policies… we have heard from leading Conservatives this week how free market capitalism is so beneficial. But we haven’t heard a single coherent policy that would make the UK a more free market economy. Rather we’ve had a string of announcements about how the Tories wish to place greater power in the hands of the state. May’s comments about being a supporter of free markets should at best be taken with a pinch of salt, but at worse look to be untrue.”
The coughing and prankster arguably a welcome distraction from the Ed Miliband-lite policies…
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