Rishi Sunak has shown his true colours by hiding stealth tax rises in the detail March 24, 2022 Don’t be fooled, Rishi Sunak is a fiscal conservative first, and a low-tax conservative second. This was a tax-cutting spring statement, but as the Office Budget Responsibility (OBR) pointed out, on balance Sunak has been a tax-hiking Chancellor. In fact, the net cut to personal taxes introduced at the Spring Statement offsets “just over a [...]
Potatoes are off the table with higher gas bills March 24, 2022 Yesterday, after the Chancellor unveiled his spending review, food banks pushed back as grim figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility warned of the biggest fall in household’s disposable incomes since records began. Richard Walker, the Managing Director of Iceland, gave a stark warning. He told the BBC that some food bank users were declining [...]
Britain’s birth rates put our economy at risk and men need to see the real problem March 24, 2022 This year, the ONS announced that for the first time, half of UK women were childless by their 30th birthday. As women leave it later and later to have children, the Great Baby Bust spells trouble for the UK. An ageing society brings serious problems, from falling standards of living to a slower rate of [...]
As inflation pushes hospitality prices up, customers’ patience will also start to wane March 24, 2022 Last week I had the painful, and for many people, familiar experience of trying to contact an airline to redeem evouchers. Mine was a simple request but not one I felt an online chat would resolve. After navigating a tortuous route through a myriad of menus, I was informed that they were too busy to [...]
Rishi Sunak needs to tell a story if he wants to keep a hold on the economy March 23, 2022 In an interview with the Sunday Times earlier this month, Gordon Brown gave a quote that was both reflective of his past failings and the challenge that lies ahead for Rishi Sunak. “I’m afraid we didn’t win the argument. You learn as you get older, or at least more experienced, that the facts are not [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Fuel duty cuts and road taxes will drive us forward March 23, 2022 In 2011, then-Chancellor George Osborne cut fuel duty by 1p and froze it. It has stayed at 57.95p per litre ever since. Now as motorists face the second petrol crisis in five months – after crucial shortages in October last year – Rishi Sunak is expected to cut fuel duty again in his spring statement. [...]
As Omicron sweeps through again, Britain has finally learnt to live with Covid-19 March 23, 2022 A huge third wave of Omicron cases is sweeping the country. This will be readily apparent in the everyday lives of many people. Family members have it, work colleagues have gone down, small restaurants and service businesses must close for a few days through staff shortages. According to the reliable Zoe Covid data produced by [...]
Editorial: The West wants a united front against Putin, but Germany and France have their limits March 23, 2022 It has become a truism to say that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has seen the west unite in ways that were unheard of even a few years ago. So the argument goes, countries across Europe and north America have rallied fast to the cause of freedom, no matter the consequences – spiking energy bills, [...]
In a bid to crack down on Big Tech, we cannot forget the small players and individuals March 23, 2022 A bill poised to erode free speech in both the UK and around the world was put before Parliament last week in the form of the long-awaited Online Safety Bill. The 225-page legislation proposes solutions for a wide range of online abuses, from child sexual exploitation to fraudulent advertising, while promising to hold Big Tech [...]
Explainer-in-brief: Boris Johnson hits the nuclear option March 22, 2022 Yesterday, Boris Johnson met with bosses from the nuclear industry to discuss the future of the sector. It was part of the Prime Minister’s bet on nuclear power, to phase out Russian gas and oil. This includes everything from small modular reactors to big power plants. As Johnson gets ready for the publication of the [...]