Will Britain ever escape the low growth trap?
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) latest report, published this morning, downgrades Britain’s growth prospects this year: from…
Labour’s plan to renationalise the railways doesn’t add up
Labour’s plan to renationalise the railways is not much of a plan at all. Rather, it is a list of…
The dangers of political prosecution
At the start of January, Donald Trump offered up a cheery new year message for Americans. ‘If I don’t get…
Will Sunak’s welfare reforms get more people back into work?
Chancellor Rishi Sunak had days to design the furlough scheme. Once lockdown became mandatory in spring 2020, it was a…
Liberty is dying under the Tories
It seems political consensus isn’t dead. It’s simply been hibernating, waiting for a kind of crackdown on personal liberty that…
Britain needs more than tinkering to get growth going
It’s not just Britain that has a growth problem. Today’s release of the IMF’s April 2024 World Economic Outlook report argues that…
The UK leaves recession behind in 2023
The economy grew by 0.1 per cent in February: not much to celebrate on its own but the small uptick…
Why no one is celebrating a small fall in NHS waiting lists
The NHS England waiting list has fallen for a fifth month in a row: to 7.54 million in February, down…
The UK’s economic problems are far bigger than a ‘recession’
It was extremely optimistic to think the UK could revise its way out of recession. After the Office for National…
Britain is falling out of love with the NHS
Rishi Sunak doesn’t speak much about his five priorities these days, apart from inflation, which ‘halved’ as promised. On NHS…
The Bank of England is edging closer to an interest rate cut
The Bank of England has voted to keep rates at 5.25 per cent – but there are signs that a rate cut…
Britain just can’t stop spending
Will Jeremy Hunt have scope to deliver more tax cuts before the next election? Tory MPs certainly hope so, as…
Inflation drops to its lowest level in two years
Inflation has slowed once again, to 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to February, down from 4 per cent…
How big will Rachel Reeves’s state be?
Every year the Mais lecture, hosted by Bayes Business School, gives its speaker a chance to lay out their vision…
Sunak says the economy is doing better. Is he right?
Is Britain’s economy ‘turning a corner’? Rishi Sunak thinks so, but convincing his fellow MPs and the public is going…
Sinister panto about the formation of the NHS: Nye, at the Olivier Theatre, reviewed
A Judy Garland rendition, dancing nurses, a star lead: no spectacle is spared in Tim Price’s new play Nye, which…
Britain’s recession looks like it’s over
Is the UK already out of recession? It’s a question that won’t be confirmed for months, but this morning’s update…
Could Jeremy Hunt actually abolish National Insurance?
Could Jeremy Hunt really abolish employee National Insurance (NI)? His additional 2p cut announced in yesterday’s Budget seems to be…
What Hunt’s ‘tax-cutting’ Budget didn’t mention
Can the Tory party now credibly claim it is cutting taxes? That was the big mystery going into Jeremy Hunt’s…
Would another cut to National Insurance be enough to move the polls?
We’ll know tomorrow afternoon what exactly Jeremy Hunt has included in his Budget, but reports this evening suggest we’re looking…
Is this really the Tory party’s election budget?
February was a tough month for Jeremy Hunt, as he tried to roll back the tax cut promises that were made by…
Migration is too high, says party in charge of migration for 14 years
When Rishi Sunak made ‘stopping the boats’ one of his five priorities after entering No. 10, he ensured that immigration…
Can Jeremy Hunt actually afford to cut taxes?
Does Jeremy Hunt have the cash to spend on tax cuts in his spring Budget next week? That’s the billion…
