Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond found himself on the defensive after his budget decision to break a 2015 election pledge and increase a tax on income paid by the self-employed. “It hurts entrepreneurs and it breaks an election promise. He would have struggled to pick something more likely to provoke a Tory rebellion,” said Philip Cowley, professor of politics at QMUL and an expert on parliamentary revolts. “This is a government with a tiny majority. Let’s see if it makes it.”More »