It won’t surprise anybody who regularly reads my 2020UK blog posts that I was delighted with the result of the EU budget debate on Wednesday evening. Although the vote isn’t binding, it’s at least a clear message. 53 Tory rebels … Continue reading
When I woke up this morning, I had every intention of writing the second part of the piece I wrote for Tuesday.However, I have been in email dialogue with a chap who is not entirely in agreement with me when … Continue reading
It’s the economy, stupid – and I feel that the real problem is that the whole idea of ‘the economy’ is so huge that we all look the other way. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t interested and it doesn’t … Continue reading
If you want to ignore the general chest thumping of conferences there is one speech which so far merits attention. It came from Johann Lamont, the new leader of Scottish Labour. She’s pitching herself into battle against Alex Salmond of … Continue reading
The appointment of Patrick McLoughlin as Transport Secretary earlier this week has opened debate yet again about expansion at Heathrow (today the government have claimed it’ll be a decision for the next government, talk about passing the buck!). Boris Johnson, … Continue reading
An article in the Sunday Times caught my attention yesterday. Sonia Purnell wrote about the loss of experience among Treasury officials just at a time when the country needs all the expertise it can find. The headline puts it rather … Continue reading
An article on the BBC News website earlier this week highlighted something interesting going on in the Australian welfare system at the moment. As the article says, “Instead of being given cash or cheques, thousands of people are now issued … Continue reading
The headline news today is, of course, the UK recession deepening. Our economy contracted 0.7% between April and June but, don’t worry, the government can blame it on the Diamond Jubilee and the rain. As long as they’ve got some … Continue reading
by Frances Coppola As I write, it is four in the morning of Thursday, August 4th 2011 and I am watching the Asian stock markets falling. Yesterday both the FTSE100 and the Dow Jones crashed, and further falls are expected … Continue reading
The events at the EU summit continue, not unexpectedly, to dominate the news and so I would like to add to what was said on our blog last Friday. My problem is, as I have mentioned here before, I don’t … Continue reading