I have to tip my hat to Civitas. The ‘Tufton Street’ think tank made quite a splash on Monday, including bagging the front page of the Daily Mail, with two striking claims. One was that over half of UK households now receive more in benefits from the government than they pay in tax. The other … Continue reading Are we becoming too dependent on the state?
Tag: tax
The Autumn Statement (or ‘Revenge of the bean-counters!’)
If you believe that there is a £55 billion ‘black hole’ in the public finances, and if you believe this has to be filled with tax increases and spending cuts in order to reassure the markets, then Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement was a reasonably fair way to go about it. But there are some mighty … Continue reading The Autumn Statement (or ‘Revenge of the bean-counters!’)
Is Liz Truss really to blame for £30 billion of austerity?
Sunday’s Observer led with the dramatic headline ‘Revealed: the £30bn cost of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget’. Apparently, the former PM is responsible for half of the estimated £60bn fiscal hole that Jeremy Hunt intends to fill on Thursday with tax increases and spending cuts. But if you are suspicious about this claim, then you are right to … Continue reading Is Liz Truss really to blame for £30 billion of austerity?
Making the case for tax cuts
Everyone is supposed to have their 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps I have just had mine, after the contenders for the Tory leadership were invited to endorse the ‘Charter for tax cuts’ that I co-wrote for Conservative Way Forward. It was certainly pretty cool to be namechecked at the launch event on Monday both by … Continue reading Making the case for tax cuts
Plain-speaking Economics 