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Articles tagged with George Osborne
Osborne keeps smiling about the economy
by Cathy Thom / 11 Aug 2011 15:08
Addressing MPs for the first time since the economic downturn of the last week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne spoke with calm assurance. Following yesterday’s statement from Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, in which he announced the bank had cut its 2011 growth forecast to a stagnant 1.5%, it was crucial for Osborne to appear defiant and to instill confidence in the government’s controversial attempts to eliminate budget deficit
Don’t you know there’s a riot on?
by Francesca Preece / 10 Aug 2011 09:10
This week as David Cameron sunned himself in Italy, Britain too has felt the heat. Sky News broadcast horrific reports of houses, livelihoods and communities engulfed in flames as opportunistic thugs torched London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Yet while the UK struggled to cope with the violence and destruction on the street, our government ministers remained on their sun loungers abroad.
It took three days of the destruction of local landmarks
Ministers' meetings with the media
by Caroline Crampton / 26 Jul 2011 15:37
George Osborne
Following in the wake of David Cameron and Ed Miliband, George Osborne has now published a list of his meetings with the media since last year’s general election.
The most immediately notable fact is that he met with Rebekah Brooks five times in that time. He also had two meetings with James Murdoch, two with Rupert Murdoch, and one with Elisabeth Murdoch.
The list includes receptions and
The politics of economics
by SR Gardner / 22 Jul 2011 10:31
An amazing thing has happened since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. The UK has apparently become a nation of sure-footed, confident economists. Politicians, union leaders, that guy sitting at the bar in the pub; from all you can now hear apparently convincing and certain remedies for sorting out the economic situation. And why is this amazing? Well because the majority of people, politicians included, have no true understanding or meaningful experience
The electorate wants a smaller state
by Mark Littlewood / 13 Jul 2011 10:37
Today’s new IEA research paper, Sharper Axes, Lower Taxes, provides a blueprint for a genuinely comprehensive spending review and one which goes far beyond the rather modest plans of the coalition. Intriguingly, an accompanying opinion poll, conducted by ComRes, shows overwhelming support for substantial reductions in the size of the state and accompanying tax cuts. Indeed, a very comfortable majority of voters believe that the government’s plans for fiscal retrenchment do not go
The Catch-22 on care
by Caroline Crampton / 04 Jul 2011 10:51
Today sees the publication of Andrew Dilnot’s report into how we should fund care and support. In a nutshell, he’s suggesting that there should be a cap of between £35,000 and £50,000 on the contributions people make towards their care in their last years, with the remaining cost covered by the Treasury.
The idea is that this will prevent many elderly people from having to sell their homes to pay for care, which
George Osborne the sex symbol
by Ben Duckworth / 28 Apr 2011 08:27
Shelagh Forgarty suffers from an unusual night-time distraction. She has had erotic dreams about George Osborne - not a man normally associated with sending hearts aflutter. Today was her last day as a 5Live breakfast host before she moves to her new luncthime show and the chancellor of the exchequer left her a special message, delivered in a slightly breathy tone.
"Well Shelagh. It's George Osborne here, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I
Proof: Ken Clarke did doze off during the Budget statement
by Caroline Crampton / 23 Mar 2011 17:25
There's been a lot of speculation about whether Ken Clarke did in fact nod off during George Osborne's Budget statement this afternoon, or whether he was just deep in thought. There's even money riding on it - Ladbrokes were offering 16/1 on the former chancellor dozing off earlier today.
His office denied it, but Chris Bryant MP tweeted confirming it, and now, Channel 4 News have got visual proof that he did
Osborne’s Budget was a political triumph
by Caroline Crampton / 23 Mar 2011 16:51
With many of the spending cuts announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review not even in effect yet, we knew this was always going to be a Budget that was a bit short on radical changes. With the public mood already sceptical on the way the cuts are being implemented (see Andrew Hawkins from last month for more on this) Osborne had a careful balancing act to perform to stay within the parameters set
Tax avoidance isn't a dirty practice
by Shane Greer / 22 Mar 2011 18:01
Tax avoidance. It sounds dirty, doesn’t it? And it’s meant to. It’s meant to evoke an image of some pinstripe suit wearing fat cat who’s fleecing the country for all he can get away with. And when we hear that George Osborne is going to crack down on the practice in the budget it reinforces the notion that individuals and companies who engage in tax avoidance are evil manipulators who aren’t prepared to pay
Does Cameron remember the economic misery of the 1980s?
by Graham Jones / 18 Mar 2011 15:25
Ahead of Osborne’s budget next week, the chancellor must be thinking carefully about how to prevent the further loss of jobs and skilled workers from our economy. Will the government put forward a credible proposal for growth or will they plough ahead with their programme of deep and damaging cuts.
This week Labour called for immediate action to boost jobs and growth in the economy to help hard-pressed families with the ever increasing
Eyebrow-raising poll figures for Miliband and Osborne
by Ben Duckworth / 17 Mar 2011 11:40
I’m back from a briefing by Ipsos MORI in Parliament on next week’s Budget and some eye-catching stuff came out of it. It was a wide-ranging poll but here are some of the headlines. Ed Miliband (36%) is less popular than Nick Clegg (41%)! They’re both equal on 51% for the proportion of the public who do not like them. The common narrative is that Nick Clegg is the most reviled man in Britain – this poll
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