The spending review reveals the strains on the Tory party (original) (raw)
What covid-19 and Boris Johnson’s promises are doing to the public finances
RICHARD HOLDEN is proving expensive. In the election last December, he became the first Conservative to represent the seat of North West Durham, a sprawling constituency of farms and former mining towns, since it was created in 1950. Since then he has been promised a new hospital, and in March won a tax-cut for motorhomes which will benefit the local camper-van factory and cost the exchequer £25m a year over five years. In the spending review on November 25th, the government said it would conduct a study into replacing a railway which was shut in 1963. Mr Holden is also eyeing government funds for a new bus network, some new footpaths and cycle ways, better broadband and a new leisure centre.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “A combustible mix”
From the November 28th 2020 edition
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