Johnson spots an opportunity over state aid – and it may work

If he wants working-class Labour votes the PM can’t promote the rightwing post-Brexit ideal of Singapore-on-Thames Hugely disturbing, said the Adam Smith Institute. A recipe for cronyism and pure protectionism, said the Institute for Economic Affairs. A bad solution in search of the wrong problem, according to the Institute of Directors. No, this was not the verdict on Labour’s manifesto from three organisations that played a pivotal role in Margaret Thatcher’s revolution after 1979 but their horrified reaction at Boris Johnson’s betrayal of free-market principles. Read full story