The early omens for 2026 are not good. The UK is stumbling into the New Year on the brink of recession. Indeed, the economy stopped growing last summer as Budget jitters began to undermine confidence and spending again. Only some favourable rounding in August prevented headline GDP from falling in every month from July to … Continue reading The UK economy is trapped in a “doom loop” by a clueless government
Category: productivity
The Chancellor’s gaslighting has reached new lows
When in opposition, Rachel Reeves claimed that “the Conservatives are gaslighting the British public". When she became Chancellor, she insisted that she would not “gaslight” working people herself. This can surely now be added to the long list of broken promises. The prolonged uncertainty ahead of the Budget had already harmed the economy. But confirmation … Continue reading The Chancellor’s gaslighting has reached new lows
The case for a late Budget
The Chancellor has confirmed that the date of the Autumn Budget will be Wednesday 26 November. This is relatively late, raising fears that a longer period of speculation and uncertainty will undermine confidence even further, but there are always trade-offs. I can think of five reasons why waiting might make sense. First, and perhaps most … Continue reading The case for a late Budget
Labour’s first year report – ‘tries hard, but results still poor’
One year on, the Labour government elected in July 2024 is claiming three big wins on the economy. Unfortunately, these are little to shout about. The first is the large increases in the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This simply maintained the last government's policy of raising the full NMW to two-thirds of median earnings and extending it … Continue reading Labour’s first year report – ‘tries hard, but results still poor’
Plain-speaking Economics 