2015 General Election promises under the microscope: IFS tears into the top party’s manifestos April 23, 2015 The political parties’ manifestos were given a thorough going-over by independent think tank, the Institute for Fiscal studies yesterday. The researchers who conducted the analysis on the proposals from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party (SNP) indicated that there are large and genuine differences between their offerings. However, all the [...]
David Cameron urges City workers: Labour-SNP coalition would be toxic for Britain – don’t put UK’s economic recovery at risk April 23, 2015 We have less than two weeks to save our economy. Stark, but true. At this election, the difference in economic policy on offer is more marked than it has been for a generation. The Conservative offer is clear: a continuation of the long-term economic plan that is turning our country around. Last year we were [...]
General Election 2015: Austerity “would last longer under SNP” – IFS April 23, 2015 Austerity would last longer if the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) spending plans were followed, the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) revealed this morning. At points, their proposed squeeze on public spending would also be tighter than others. In an extensive pre-election document comparing the fiscal plans of the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal [...]
Voters back up Nigel Farage and say media are most biased against Ukip April 23, 2015 A plurality of British voters think the media is much more likely to be biased against Ukip than any other major political party. The media has often made great play of gaffes and inappropriate remarks made by Ukip politicians and members. However, Ukip consistently points out that the media rarely reports similar offences committed by [...]
IFS: Labour leaves door open to borrowing £90bn more than the Conservatives April 23, 2015 The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has published its analysis of several of the parties' manifestos. The Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and the SNP all came in for scrutiny from the think tank – although Ukip and the Greens were left off the list. The IFS' numbers show a substantial difference between the major [...]
General Election 2015: David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg on how they’re going to solve the housing crisis (and which is their favourite room) April 23, 2015 House prices are too high and there aren't enough homes on the market, a new – not altogether surprising – study has suggested. But with an election just days away, property search giant Rightmove, which conducted the research, decided to take it to the leaders of each party to see what they're going to do [...]
General Election 2015: KPMG chairman Simon Collins wants more focus on business and a long-term housing strategy April 22, 2015 ELECTION COUNTDOWN: 14 DAYS TO GO Every day until the final week of the election campaign, we ask a business leader to say what policies would entice them to vote for a particular party. SIMON COLLINS: CHAIRMAN, KPMG ■ My top ask is for politicians to promote business. Business creates the wealth, [...]
Lib Dems deny involvement in Grant Shapps Wikipedia case April 22, 2015 The Liberal Democrats moved last night to distance themselves from an increasingly complicated story involving Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps and the editable online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. On Tuesday, it was reported that Wikipedia blocked a user account “Contribsx” on suspicion the account was being used by Shapps or someone close to the party chairman to [...]
General Election 2015: Alex Salmond says he’s “writing the Labour Party’s budget” April 22, 2015 David Cameron has tweeted a video of former SNP leader Alex Salmond joking that he is writing the Labour Party's budget. A boisterous Salmond told an audience that when a Scottish Labour politician told Andrew Neil Jim Murphy will not be writing the Labour Party budget, he knew that already because he was the one [...]
Scotland will have a £9.7bn black hole under SNP plans for fiscal autonomy, says IFS April 22, 2015 The SNP suffered a blow to its fiscal credibility this morning, after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) forecast a £9.7bn black hole in Scotland's finances by the year 2020 if it achieves fiscal autonomy. The independent think tank released the research note the day after Nicola Sturgeon launched her manifesto promising an end to [...]