Conservatives must remember that small government is better government June 5, 2025 Labour’s tax-raising, interventionist approach is strangling the economy. Conservatives must make the positive case that individuals, families and businesses make better decisions for themselves than distant bureaucrats, says Brandon Lewis Among its many crises and policy reversals in the past few weeks, a leaked memo from Angela Rayner revealed that a vocal subset of the [...]
Welfare U-turns show Starmer puts party ahead of country June 5, 2025 The Conservatives are the only political party able to say they take the country’s £100bn debt bill and £65bn welfare bill seriously, says Jamila Robertson We have heard the government assert time and again, that they are taking the difficult decisions. Almost a year on, with inflation up from two per cent to 3.5 per [...]
Grandparents are the missing piece in the fertility crisis June 5, 2025 An under-discussed aspect of the housing shortage is that it forces many young Londoners to move away from their parents, making it harder to raise children of their own, says Phoebe Arslanagic-Little My husband and I knew that our baby would be much loved by our parents, but we have both been surprised by the [...]
The first Europe referendum proved that the people don’t always know better than politicians June 5, 2025 50 years ago today, the British public voted decisively to stay in the European Economic Community. The winning side in a referendum always think they have settled the question, but the 1975 vote proves how wrong they are, says Eliot Wilson Fifty years ago today, on Thursday 5 June 1975, British voters did something unheard [...]
The real reason young Albanians like me are coming to the UK illegally June 4, 2025 Growing up in Kukes in northern Albania, one of the poorest places in Europe, Gezim Hilaj watched as most of the young people he knew crossed to the UK in small boats. Here he argues that Keir Starmer’s return hubs won’t stop more Albanians doing the same In 2019, while I was studying hard to [...]
Why the UK investment system needs a complete overhaul June 4, 2025 Nick Saunders, CEO of Webull UK, an online investment platform, says the UK must completely overhaul its investment system if it wants to drive growth. Like a rickety Edwardian chair with a broken leg, the retail investment infrastructure in the UK is so badly damaged that not even the most optimistic Bargain Hunt contestant would [...]
The Debate: Should the UK decriminalise cannabis? June 4, 2025 Sadiq Khan says yes, but is the UK really ready for looser rules around cannabis? We get two experts to argue for and against.
Thames Water mess could soon swamp ministers – and taxpayers June 4, 2025 Water takes the path of least resistance, and so – on this occasion as least – does private equity. Apparently deterred by the increasingly hostile political and regulatory environment KKR, the US giant which secured ‘preferred bidder status’ for a takeover of Thames Water, pulled the plug on its £4bn investment over the weekend. They [...]
Westminster is dancing to Nigel Farage’s tune June 4, 2025 Whether it’s Keir Starmer’s welfare U-turns or Robert Jenrick’s viral videos, parties of the left and right are scrabbling to respond to Farage’s Reform onslaught, says Emma Revell Spending time away from the office when you work in Westminster is a strange experience. Either you keep watching the news and doomscrolling on social media, in [...]
Britain’s trade deals mean nothing if we neglect our own industries June 4, 2025 Trade deals and global ambitions will mean nothing if Britain neglects its domestic industries, writes Shevaun Haviland.