The reshuffle is a fillip for Osborne and the economy September 5, 2012 THE chancellor had a mixed reshuffle. First, the negatives. He wanted Iain Duncan Smith out of Work and Pensions, but the quiet man had his way. Osborne also winds up with Ken Clarke as a roving rival, licensed to speak about the economy; untameable and unabashed in voicing his views, whether or not they fit [...]
As the coalition debates whether to expand airport capacity, which is the best option? September 5, 2012 HEATHROW Tim Yeo Britain needs the third Heathrow runway because Boris Island is too expensive, too late and in the wrong place. Building Boris Island requires billions of taxpayers’ money. Expanding Heathrow does not require a penny. No aircraft could take off from Boris Island before 2030. The third runway could be operating in 2020 [...]
Rapid Responses September 5, 2012 Jolt the economy [Re: More public spending is unlikely to multiply into stronger economic growth, yesterday] Paul Ormerod is spot on. I had hoped that the world had evolved beyond the theories of John Maynard Keynes. It should be obvious now that an increase in public spending will not stimulate the economy. Rather, David Davis [...]
Hunt needs a radical NHS vision to survive in the worst job in politics September 4, 2012 JEREMY Hunt has just accepted one of the toughest jobs in British politics. Coming from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Department of Health, he moves from a department with a total budget of £2bn to one that spends £100bn each year. His new brief involves running one of the largest organisations [...]
More public spending is unlikely to multiply into stronger economic growth September 4, 2012 THE debate rages on about whether the chancellor should implement a Plan B, or C or D, or even Z. There’s a plethora of alternatives for George Osborne to choose from, but many of them share a key common theme: that an increase in public spending will boost overall output in the economy. This was [...]
Britain can finally make the dash for gas with Paterson September 4, 2012 DAVID Cameron has promised to end his government’s “dithering” and “paralysis”. As part of this, yesterday’s reshuffle was intended to kick-start new initiatives for reviving Britain’s flagging economy. One of the key political battle grounds in coming months will be the growing divergence between an outdated green agenda and a new push for environmental deregulation [...]
As David Cameron completes the coalition’s first major reshuffle, will it prove successful? September 4, 2012 YES Alex Singleton Yesterday’s reshuffle will reinvigorate the government in three ways. First, by booting the ultra-liberal Ken Clarke out from Justice, David Cameron has regained control over a key part of government policy. Secondly, the fresh face at the Department for International Development, Justine Greening, will help shake up a department that continues to [...]
Rapid Responses September 4, 2012 Seat inequality [Re: Clegg’s veto of fairer seats is more important than the reshuffle, yesterday] The staggering inequality in Britain’s voting system was never highlighted better than when Tony Blair won his 66 seat majority in 2005. In terms of votes cast, the Tories won the most votes in England. And yet, Labour went on to [...]
We’ve been here before: Britain’s decline and fall is not inevitable September 3, 2012 THERE is one, single policy issue that dominates British politics today: the economy. It is the preeminent issue that determines the welfare of British citizens. Whether they have a job, how well paid they are in that job, what taxes they have to pay, what healthcare and pensions they get, how good their children’s education [...]
Introducing a gold standard would not cost as much as many people fear September 3, 2012 EVER since the Republican Party decided it would set up a commission on returning to the gold standard, commentators have been discussing the pros and cons of backing the dollar with the yellow metal. One strand of criticism has been the cost of using gold. While there are strong arguments against returning to a gold [...]