Reform would be an economic disaster (trust me, I worked for Liz Truss) May 21, 2025 I’ve seen first-hand what happens when politicians promise huge tax cuts without acknowledging difficult trade-offs – and that’s exactly what we’d get from a Reform government, says Sir Simon Clarke It’s time to take Reform seriously, because one day soon, they might run our country. Stranger things have happened. Look at France, where the traditional [...]
Liz Truss: UK’s shortest-serving PM rakes in the cash May 19, 2025 Liz Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister, has seen her earnings rise after leaving Number 10. The former PM has raked in £112,657 in the year to 31 March, 2025, through a business she and her husband set up. The figure is up from the £104,715 the firm reported in net assets during its prior [...]
Reform UK’s fiscal plans could spark ‘Sterling crisis’, economist warns May 16, 2025 Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has hinted at ambitions to become chancellor if his party wins the next general election. What does this mean for the UK’s finances? Simon French, an economist at Panmure Liberum who has advised the government, estimates that Reform UK’s plans would leave the UK with an “immediate” fiscal gap [...]
US bond market on the verge of ‘meltdown’ as Treasury yields spike April 9, 2025 US government bonds have entered a “meltdown” as long-yield Treasuries briefly reached over five per cent last night amid market panic over Donald Trump’s tariffs. US 30-year Treasury yields spiked briefly above five per cent last night, before settling at 4.9 per cent, up from 4.45 per cent before Trump unveiled his tariffs. The last [...]
Santander: Ex-Treasury chief civil servant could be new bank chairman April 5, 2025 Former Treasury permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar who was sacked by Liz Truss could become the new chairman of Santander UK, according to a report. Sir Tom, who helped devise the Covid-19 furlough job protection scheme, is the preferred candidate for chairmanship of Britain’s fifth-biggest high street bank, Sky News is reporting. He could be [...]
Spring Statement 2025 should be Reeves’ last March 26, 2025 If there’s one lesson Keir Starmer should learn from Liz Truss, it’s that he should sack his Chancellor Rachel Reeves, says Alys Denby With living standards clobbered by an emergency Budget hastily cobbled together as market forces react against government policy, the spectre of Liz Truss haunted the Spring Statement in more ways than one. [...]
CBI: Consumer spending slump deflating private sector confidence March 3, 2025 Sluggish consumer spending is damaging the private sector, according to new CBI data that shows business volumes declining faster than in the last quarter. The CBI has projected that private sector activity will fall for a fourth consecutive quarter in the three months up to May, with a 23 per cent drop in activity for [...]
‘Here for the long haul’: Reeves defends her position after market turmoil January 17, 2025 Rachel Reeves has insisted she is “here for the long haul” as she defended her position as Chancellor in the wake of bond market turmoil and rising government borrowing costs. The UK’s Chancellor has faced criticism for embarking on a trip to China last weekend while government borrowing costs surged and the value of the [...]
Business confidence plunges to lowest level since Liz Truss’s mini-budget January 15, 2025 Rachel Reeves’s tax hikes have pushed business confidence to its lowest level since the wake of Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-Budget, as firms fret over a surge in costs and slowdown in the domestic economy, a closely watched survey has suggested. Concerns over a looming tax bill and a slump in sales caused business confidence to [...]
Rachel Reeves or Liz Truss: Who really ‘crashed the economy’? January 10, 2025 Amid UK bond market turmoil, how does Reeves' budget compare to Truss' - and who is really responsible for 'crashing the economy'?