Brits aren’t spending enough – time for Splash Out to Help Out May 20, 2026 Household debt has declined and people have stopped spending on productive things like home improvements but also in leisure. That’s bad news for the public finances, so the government should look at ways to incentivise spending, says Tim Sarson Brits have stopped spending. After the great financial crisis in 2008 we collectively decided to zip [...]
My generation has only known political chaos May 20, 2026 Not since Tony Blair has Britain had a political leader who was able to win a general election and actually enact major policy change. Which means that for people of my generation and younger, our entire adult lives have been lived under governments who couldn’t actually govern, says Emma Revell Here we go again. After a [...]
Are we in the calm before the economic storm? May 20, 2026 There is a palpable sense of being in the calm before the storm. Thanks to the backward-looking nature of most economic data releases, we’re being fed glimpses of the gathering gloom. The latest GDP growth data from the ONS covered Q1 and came in at a respectable 0.6 per cent. However, it has been widely [...]
OBR chiefs warn jostling Labour MPs against fiscal rules change May 19, 2026 Office for Budget Responsibility chiefs have warned Labour activists against changing the fiscal rules and overall framework to account for longer term impacts of government investment. The OBR’s David Miles and Tom Josephs said a ten-year forecast horizon would make for a “less credible” economic report and may not have any impact on bond investors. [...]
Capital won’t wait for Westminster to sort itself out May 19, 2026 Britain can’t afford to spend the next six months navel gazing. We need to get serious about investing, says Katie Perrior Last month I woke up in Austin, Texas, pulled back the curtains in my hotel room and looked out across a skyline punctuated by cranes. Not just a handful of projects but dozens. Much [...]
Streeting’s EU Plan would cost our hard-won relationship with Trump May 19, 2026 West Streeting's pitch to rejoin the EU may play well with Labour Party members, but it will prove a liability for whoever has to govern.
Mel Stride: Markets have issued ‘damning verdict’ on Labour May 18, 2026 Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride is set to claim that markets have issued the Labour government a “damning verdict” after continual leadership speculation and tax rises, warning that taxpayers will be left on the hook. In a speech at the Centre for Policy Studies, Stride will argue that investors have taken an ill-view of the [...]
Burnham calls for UK to abandon ‘40 years of neoliberalism’ May 18, 2026 Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham has called for the UK to abandon “40 years of neoliberalism” as he claimed that Westminster politics had failed northern communities. In what is being widely interpreted as Burnham’s Labour leadership launch speech, he said that the upcoming by-election in Makerfield was a chance for a “much bigger debate about [...]
IMF tells Reeves to drop triple lock pension and make ‘fundamental’ tax reform May 18, 2026 The UN’s global financial fund has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to drop the triple lock pension and draw up “contingency” tax measures to ensure that public debt is reduced as a share of GDP. The International Monetary Fund has said that there are “risks” around spending forecasts and tax receipts, criticising the Chancellor for [...]
From pensions to healthcare: UK state spending on old age surges May 18, 2026 Government spending on the elderly has dramatically increased the size of the state, analysis by the official statistics body has shown. Fresh research by the Office for National Statistics has suggested a steady rise in spending on health and old age has contributed to a rise in government consumption as a share of GDP. In [...]