Spring Statement: stability today, storms tomorrow March 3, 2026 The Spring Statement successfully avoided immediate policy changes and provided the Chancellor with increased fiscal headroom, but risks loom from international conflict and unsustainable spending plans, says James Nation The Treasury and the Chancellor did everything possible to convince us that this time would be different. The ‘Spring Forecast Statement’ fell on a Tuesday, not [...]
Reeves’ Spring Statement was yet another missed opportunity March 3, 2026 Rachel Reeves wanted this Spring Statement to be a non-event. In that she succeeded, says Julian Jessop The Chancellor’s Spring Statement sent a signal of “steady as she goes”. Unfortunately, what was really needed is a change of course. There was plenty of party political knockabout, but no major policy announcements and nothing to lift [...]
Gorton and Denton proves messy, multi-party politics is here to stay March 3, 2026 A resounding win for the Greens in the Gorton and Denton by-election reveals just how fractured and angry voters are becoming, writes Scarlett Maguire In what we may now distantly remember as ‘ordinary times’ Labour should never have lost Gorton and Denton, even on a bad day, let alone finished third on less than 10,000 [...]
London cable car proves Britain can still get infrastructure right – sometimes March 3, 2026 A proposed floating park in the Royal Docks finally proves the value – and vision – of the London Cable Car, argues James Ford Here is a question you probably rarely ask yourself: what is your favourite bit of transport infrastructure in the capital? Is it the Regent Street Monorail? Maybe you prefer travelling between [...]
Reeves delivers Spring Statement as war rages and markets tremble March 3, 2026 Spare a thought for Rachel Reeves. She had hoped to make a Spring Statement that nobody noticed and yet today she has to deliver it as war rages in the Middle East, triggering warnings of energy price shocks, instability and inflation. There is a very real prospect that the economic forecasts to which the Chancellor [...]
AI-fuelled plumbing boom is luring in private equity March 3, 2026 AI has made trades like plumbing alluring not just to jobseekers, but private equity investors, writes Susannah Streeter.
The US just blacklisted an AI company. Is yours next? March 3, 2026 A government demonstrated in a single week that it can transform a technology company from the sole provider of classified AI services into a designated national security threat, not for what the company did, but for what it refused to allow, says Paul Armstrong Last week, the Trump administration blacklisted Anthropic, a company whose AI [...]
Starmer is in denial over defence spending March 3, 2026 Keir Starmer’s dither and delay on defence spending is leaving Britain vulnerable in uncertain times, says Eliot Wilson Trades unions have no monopoly on wisdom. They are advocates for the interests of their members, and they have been wrong just as often as government or big business over the years. But on this occasion, Sharon [...]
Starmer is being squeezed from all directions March 3, 2026 Labour and the Conservatives have lost public trust and are being challenged by insurgents on both the left and the right, new polling shows, says Matthew Lesh Clowns to the left of me. Jokers to the right. Here’s Keir Starmer – stuck in the middle, losing you. The catastrophic defeat of the government by the [...]
Reform’s sovereign wealth pitch risks raiding pensions not reviving growth March 2, 2026 Reform’s Richard Tice’s plan to consolidate local council pension schemes fundamentally misunderstands the nature of fiduciary duty, says Tim Focas Behind the rhetoric of Reform’s proposal to consolidate local council pension schemes into a near £500bn sovereign wealth fund lies a major misunderstanding of what these pension assets are and who they exist to serve. [...]