Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane to head industrial strategy council October 7, 2018 The government has appointed Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane to chair a new industrial strategy council in a bid to boost Britain’s low productivity. The council, which will meet three or four times per year, will publish a regular report on the government’s progress on implementing its industrial strategy. The body will also [...]
UK productivity is still lower than it was before the financial crisis October 5, 2018 UK workers boosted their hourly productivity at their fastest rate in more than a year in the second quarter, the latest data shows. However, the growth of 1.4 per cent in the three months to June compared to the same period a year ago, but is still far lower than the average of two per [...]
Everyone’s a loser in today’s fabricated generation wars October 5, 2018 According to doomsayers in policy and media circles, the young have never had it so bad, and the fault lies with their greedy elders. The allegedly enormous, voracious baby boomer generation, living it up on the golf course with the ill-gotten gains from gold-plated pensions and over-valued houses, is in the firing line for causing [...]
The Tories talk the talk on free markets, but the policies don’t match the rhetoric October 5, 2018 Last year’s Conservative party conference marked a change in tone for the Prime Minister and her relationship with the free market. Perhaps it was the 2017 snap election upset that made her roll back her language around “untrammeled free markets”, or maybe there was increased understanding that after Brexit a commitment to competition would be vital [...]
RBS: No-deal Brexit could send UK economy reeling October 4, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boss Ross McEwan has warned that a no-deal Brexit could push the UK into another recession. Economic growth could fall flat or even turn negative if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, he told the BBC. Read more: 'End Brexit psychodrama' – Chamber of Commerce chief pleads with [...]
The end of austerity the Prime Minister has promised would costs £20bn, says Institute of Fiscal Studies October 4, 2018 The end of austerity the Prime Minister signalled in yesterday’s conference party speech could cost £20bn, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Read more: Theresa May declares 'austerity is over' in Conservative conference speech Theresa May ended the Conservative Party Conference yesterday on a high, declaring the end of austerity is in sight as [...]
The Conservative party conference was more SOS than Dancing Queen October 4, 2018 You have to hand it to Theresa May: after last year’s conference fiasco, it took guts to go onstage yesterday jiving to Abba’s Dancing Queen. In the end, her speech wasn’t bad. She has never been the kind of messiah-type figure who can bewitch a hall with her “authenticity” like Jeremy Corbyn, nor a charisma-soaked [...]
Bereft of new ideas, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is dead set on sticking its head in the sand October 3, 2018 One of the most dispiriting aspects of the Labour Party conference, which ended last week, is how deeply conservative the political left has become. Its remedies for Britain’s problems look to the past and not the future. Far from embracing new technology, the left is hostile to it. This was not always the case. Labour [...]
The government’s migration blindspot is a missed opportunity October 3, 2018 If there is one message that has been trumpeted by cabinet ministers, MPs, and members at this week’s Conservative party conference, it is that the Tories are and have always been the party of business. From Philip Hammond’s affirmation that “the Conservative party has business at its core”, to Boris Johnson waxing lyrical about the [...]
UK services sector growth slowed in September October 3, 2018 Business activity slowed slightly in September, according to a closely followed measure of services sector activity. The UK services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) hit 53.9 points in September, compared to 54.3 in August, according to figures released today from data firm IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, staying well above the 50-point [...]