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Articles tagged with George Osborne
Two more ideas after Help to Buy that will get new homes built
by Nick Faith / 21 Mar 2013 16:02
George Osborne gave us the news we were all expecting on Wednesday. Growth forecasts were down and borrowing still high (albeit less than under Labour) and the Chancellor made it crystal clear that there were no short-term fixes to either of these issues.
One of the headline measures, Help to Buy, invoked memories of Thatcher’s successful Right to Buy scheme. In fact, the Daily Mail went so far as to superimpose an image
Is Twitter treating Osborne unfairly?
by Josh Zietcer / 21 Mar 2013 12:19
In the Twittersphere, Budget day is always an exciting occasion. It is a day on which pre-prepared tweets by loyal Conservatives surface, blaming Labour for the deficit (in a manner which can only be compared to a toddler screaming “but he started it”), angry Labour voters arm themselves with metaphorical hammers to break apart anything Osborne says, before he even opens his mouth, editors of national newspapers accidently leak budget reports and
The case for air passenger duty reform
by Brian Donohoe MP and Paul Goggins MP / 11 Mar 2013 15:29
A major new report released last week by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on travel and tourism competitiveness has confirmed what many of us have long feared: the UK is now officially one of the world’s least competitive countries when it comes to the ticket taxes levied on passengers.
The report ranks the UK 139 out of 140 countries for flight tax competitiveness based on ‘ticket taxes and airport charges’. There
Stand and deliver: Osborne’s improved performance
by Charlie Critchell / 05 Dec 2012 16:46
In the wake of Osborne’s address to the Commons, the general consensus in the House appeared to be one of mild relief - Ed Balls and Labour notwithstanding.
Welcome news in the form of a projected deficit reduction, provided by the OBR, set the ball rolling for what appears to show – at first glance at least – that the chancellor’s medicine is working.
Starting with the obligatory painting of the fractious
Autumn statement: Quotes of the day
by Josh White / 05 Dec 2012 15:22
The state of the economy:
Osborne: “So the economy is recovering. It’s recovering more quickly than many of our neighbours.”
Balls: “The longest double-dip recession since the second world war, now followed by the slowest recovery in the last hundred years.”
The causes of sluggish growth:
Osborne: “If, for instance, lower growth was the result of the government’s fiscal policy, they [the OBR ] would say so. But they do
Autumn statement: Can Osborne avoid the winter blues?
by Charlie Critchell / 05 Dec 2012 10:22
Unlike his budget earlier this year, George Osborne’s autumn statement hasn’t - as yet - been leaked. To those familiar with the script, this will be of little consequence; assume greater and deeper spending cuts, lower than expected growth and a failure to meet projected forecasts. Or at least until the official OBR figures are unveiled later today, that will be the consensus.
The key challenges facing Osborne and his team include meeting
TP JRF coffee club interview: Sharon Bowles
by Ben Duckworth / 25 Sep 2012 13:49
This afternoon, the Liberal Democrat’s most powerful politician will take to the stage. She is a red-head former patent attorney who describes herself as a “technocrat”. She is the ultimate macro-politician, whose job it is to think about the big picture across all of the European Union’s 27 countries. As you will have guessed by now, I’m not talking about Nick Clegg. Meet Sharon Bowles MEP. She chairs the economic and monetary affairs committee,
Boris Johnson, the Tory who stole the Olympics limelight
by Naomi Zainali / 11 Sep 2012 16:16
Now that the Games are officially over, any hopes David Cameron and George Osborne originally had of basking in the athletes’ glory will have proven to be misguided.
By contrast, Boris Johnson’s star is on the rise. The rapturous applause enjoyed by the London Mayor at yesterday’s Olympics and Paralympics victory parade was the pinnacle of his summer of popularity. Cameron watched on as Johnson made his speech on the Mall in front
Chancellor slams shut Clegg's emergency tax plan
by Aisha Gani / 29 Aug 2012 13:01
Nick Clegg’s demands today for an emergency tax on Britain’s wealthiest – in order to rescue Britain from its economic troubles – was effectively slammed shut by the Chancellor this morning. The deputy prime minister made this bold plan just as recess ends, and as George Osborne came back from his summer holiday. This political positioning is an indication of the less collegial tone of Coalition colleagues that we can expect from the next
Why Labour should fear Boris as PM
by Emma Burnell / 31 Jul 2012 10:38
Labour failed to take on Boris properly in London, twice. We never got a handle on how to fight him properly, and we allowed him and his campaign to define the terms of the election. He’s bested –twice – one of our political superstars (and one of our few single-name recognition politicians). Yet some in the Party still consider Boris just a joke and fail to see the threat his leadership of
Red Sox and Karl Marx: Romney meets Miliband
by Anoosh Chakelian / 26 Jul 2012 11:37
"Move along, folks" - American cries echoing through the corridors of the leader of the opposition's offices signified Romney's arrival - another clue being a shimmering convoy of silver vans (sorry, trucks) pulling up outside.
The US Republican leader, and potential president come November, had arrived in all his smooth, business-like, super PAC-guzzling glory, and greeted a slightly stiff Ed Miliband, red tie crumpled, face fixed. The clash of the not-quite-Titans.
An
GDP: Is there a contingency plan?
by Tony Dolphin / 25 Jul 2012 13:14
The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that the UK economy remained in recession during the second quarter of 2012 after output fell by a much bigger than expected 0.7 per cent. Real GDP has now fallen for three consecutive quarters and in five of the last seven quarters. Output is still 4.5 per cent lower than at its peak at the beginning of 2008.
There were some special factors in the
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