Revealed: rightwing ‘slash and burn’ ideas that could be blueprint for Truss
A free-market thinktank with close links to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng has drawn up a blueprint of “slash and burn” ideas that could form the basis of the government’s supply-side reform programme to be set out in coming weeks.
The document from the Free Market Forum (FMF), an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), suggests scrapping free childcare hours, releasing green belt land for housing, abolishing corporation tax and dropping teacher training qualifications for graduates.
Other ideas include remote learning so parents can pick the best teachers, amending the Equalities Act so white working-class boys are better protected, and restoring the link between tax and household income so a married woman’s income could be seen as part of her husband’s.
Truss plans to unveil a package of supply-side reforms, primarily involving deregulation, as part of the chancellor’s medium-term fiscal plan later this month, but the government has remained tight-lipped on details.
Kwarteng is expected to announce changes in eight areas including planning, business regulation, childcare, immigration, agricultural productivity and financial services.
The prime minister’s allies hope her proposals, a key element of her drive for growth, will help get her on the front foot after a bruising two weeks since the mini-budget unleashed market turbulence, followed by a Tory party conference that was dominated by a U-turn over the top 45p tax rate after a rebellion by MPs.
The foreword of the Free Market Forum paper, published in September last year, said it aims to “incubate and promote ideas” among Tory MPs on future policy direction.
The document is billed as “a collection of policies for a better brighter Britain by the end of this
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