Kwarteng says ‘we must stay the course’ as he defends tax cuts October 2, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng will tomorrow defend his tax cuts and declare “we must stay the course”, after the first day of Tory party conference was overshadowed by blue-on-blue attacks. The chancellor is expected to say he is committed to “fiscal responsibility”, after funding his tax cuts through more borrowing, in a bid to calm financial markets. [...]
The Capitalist: Lord Bethell bigs up the rave; Greggs goes bling; James Blunt kicks off September 12, 2024 Lord Bethell muses on the politics of the rave while Greggs releases the new must-have City accessory: catch up on the latest gossip in The Capitalist.
Whoever wins the fight over housing and energy will hold the key to victory September 5, 2023 With Parliament back, both parties need to focus on what's going to matter to voters in the next months: housing and energy prices will be top issues, together with questions on net zero, writes Elena Siniscalco
In memoriam: Gove started to crack open a housing crisis paralysed by indecision July 8, 2022 Amid the utter chaos of the last 72 hours – from the torrent of ministerial resignations to Boris Johnson’s own painful almost-exit – there was someone who was ushered out of Cabinet – Michael Gove. A long-time frenemy of the prime minister, Gove had been appointed Secretary of State for Housing – soon after renamed [...]
Britain needs more safe and energy efficient homes, but targets miss the point December 1, 2022 Last week, we saw Conservative party backbenchers oppose Michael Gove’s target to deliver 300,000 homes a year in England. The scale of the rebellion meant the vote on planning reforms, enshrined in the levelling up bill, was pulled. The government’s levelling up strategy has the potential to make a positive difference, but its focus on [...]
Street votes will be a bottom-up policy that satisfies without ruffling feathers May 26, 2022 Britain needs more homes; practically everyone agrees, including Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and his predecessors. Knowing what you need and knowing how to get there are quite different things, however, and radical pro-housing policies have repeatedly been broken on the back of public or political opposition. It’s in this context that the government has [...]
The cranes of Manchester tell a tale of a city that said yes to Yimbyism December 21, 2023 As the novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard wrote: “There are few things I find more beautiful than cranes”. Officially, the symbol of Manchester is a bee – but it might as well be a crane. These skeletal structures are symbols of the skybound rise of England’s third largest city which this week smashed Welwyn Gardens out [...]
Race to replace Johnson: Two candidates confirm bids, as Mordaunt, Hunt, Zahawi, Javid, Sunak, Truss, Baker and Wallace consider chances July 8, 2022 Two candidates have confirmed they are running in the Conservative leadership election, while at least five others are tipped to enter the contest. So far, only attorney general Suella Braverman and Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Tom Tugendhat have issued their intention to run. 24-hours after Johnson announced he would step aside, a YouGuv poll [...]
Exclusive: London’s councils are half a billion in the red. Council Tax will go up – but will it be enough? December 9, 2023 London’s councils are trapped in a “perfect storm” after research found the boroughs are teetering on the financial brink facing a half a billion pound deficit.
Labour and Tories fight over economy as Hunt and Reeves drop tax cut hints May 25, 2024 The Tories and Labour will fight over the economy as Keir Starmer centres Saturday’s campaign on the cost-of-living crisis while the Conservatives hint at tax cuts for high earners. The Chancellor signalled the party would seek to end the impact of tapering of personal allowances on larger incomes, while his opposite number vowed to deliver [...]