The Chancellor’s Spring Statement sent a signal of “steady as she goes”. Unfortunately, what was really needed is a change of course. There was plenty of party political knockabout, but no major policy announcements and nothing to lift the spirits of consumers or businesses. This might have been fine if all were well. But there is little … Continue reading Spring Statement was yet another missed opportunity
Category: Politics
Better UK economic news owes little to Labour’s policy choices
Friday was a relatively good day for UK economic data, with the latest news on the public finances, retail sales, and the PMI survey all better than expected. This followed Wednesday’s confirmation that headline inflation fell back in January. But is this really evidence that the worst is over – and are the Labour government … Continue reading Better UK economic news owes little to Labour’s policy choices
Four insights on the latest UK labour data (warning! contains nuance…)
Many people will read whatever they like into today’s new data on the labour market without bothering to look past the headlines. And to be fair, those raising concerns about the recent trends in unemployment and in pay are right to do so. Nonetheless, the underlying picture is a little more nuanced. Here are four key points … Continue reading Four insights on the latest UK labour data (warning! contains nuance…)
The hard sell: Britain needs to step up to fund its own defence
The BBC is reporting today that the Prime Minister is considering a significant increase in defence spending or, more precisely, that Keir Starmer is looking at bringing forward increases that have already been promised. The Labour government has previously committed to raising core defence spending from a little under 2.5% of national income currently to the new … Continue reading The hard sell: Britain needs to step up to fund its own defence
Plain-speaking Economics 