Britain is giving up on work
Work is good. Work generates wealth, makes people happier and, maybe, delivers salvation. The Protestant work ethic is much disputed…
Will Rachel Reeves’s two Budget gambles pay off?
It’s traditional to describe Budgets as a political gamble. Rachel Reeves is actually making two bets. First, that voters can…
Food inflation is a ticking time bomb for Rachel Reeves
As the Budget approaches, Westminster is full of chatter about Rachel Reeves’s decision to take the ‘smorgasbord’ approach to fiscal…
Britain’s stingy state pension is good news
That Britain has the least generous state pension in the G7 should be recognised for what it is: good news.…
Ming Campbell was too good for politics
Sir Menzies Campbell’s death means the loss of one of the most inconspicuously interesting people I’ve known in politics, not…
James Lyons’s departure will cost Keir Starmer
When my friend James Lyons told me last summer that he was going to take a gap year, I knew…
Farage is right: paying illegal migrants to leave is a good idea
Nigel Farage’s latest immigration plan contains a proposal that deserves to be taken seriously. Reform UK’s ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ promises…
Kill the single state pension age
When William Beveridge designed the welfare state in the 1940s, the state pension age was 65 for men and 60…
Does Northumberland really want to see the return of lynx?
Farming is hard, and sheep farming especially so. Sheep are endearing but awkward creatures, generally looking for the most inconvenient…
The populist case for fixing the pension system
Pensions rarely top the Westminster agenda or get politicians excited. Too boring, too distant. But maybe, just maybe, pensions will…
Labour MPs should thank – not blame – Reeves for trying to cut welfare
Labour MPs blaming Rachel Reeves over welfare cuts are like teenagers blaming their mum for telling them to wear a…
Labour’s welfare rebels will regret their revolt
A Labour government facing a rebellion over welfare reform is something of a dog-bites-man story – Labour never finds this…
Only proper welfare reform can bring true ‘national renewal’
Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review does more than set budgets. It exposes a contradiction at the heart of Labour’s approach to…
The NHS should be Farage’s next hobby horse
Nigel Farage’s march to the left continues. Reform is now committed not just to reinstating winter fuel payments for all…
Nigel Farage’s left-wing turn looks like a triumph
Nigel Farage declared earlier this year that ‘economics might be bigger than immigration for us at the next election’. Most…
Reeves had a good day, but she’s hardly in the clear
Rachel Reeves’ Treasury team and the No. 10 communications staff should enjoy a drink tonight. The Spring Statement is a…
Why Keir Starmer must cut disability benefits
Keir Starmer’s imminent attempt to curb Britain’s spending on welfare is a more serious and important bid to curb the…
Labour needs lots more special advisers
Labour ministers’ frustration at what they see as a sclerotic civil service is finally boiling over. Most people familiar with…
Southport and the problem with judge-led inquiries
Sir Keir Starmer has promised an inquiry into the events around the Southport murders committed by Axel Rudakubana, saying there…
Why Westminster is wrong about gilt yields
It’s gilts season at Westminster. This is one of those unpredictable events, like the passing of a comet, that sees…
Starmer’s grooming gang stance might not last the weekend
From the start of Elon Musk’s onslaught, Sir Keir Starmer’s position in refusing a new national inquiry into the grooming…
Why won’t the jokes about Rachel Reeves’s CV go away?
Why do jokes about Rachel Reeves’s CV persist? One explanation is simple: it’s funny. The Chancellor’s public persona is strait-laced and…
There was more to John Prescott than his working class roots
John Prescott has died, leading to a flood of tributes and comments about the working class hero of the New…
The humiliating emptiness of David Cameron’s legacy
The humiliating post-premiership of David Cameron is the gift that keeps on giving. He might have been gone from No.…
Should GPs make a profit?
The Budget has started a fight between the government and GPs. As is often the case with doctors, that fight…
