Autumn Budget 2026: five no-brainers to boost productivity Opinion Despite ongoing calls for radical tax and economic reforms to boost productivity, Chancellor John Healey is expected to deliver a cautious, low-key Budget, Tim Sarson You can tell it’s Budget season. The leaves are just starting to turn, Halloween goods fill the shops, and the corridor small talk from my colleagues has moved on from [...]
Why Healey will miss a £25bn bonus from better productivity Economics The UK economy’s productivity picture has radically changed in the last year. Maurício Alencar considers what this could mean for John Healey. For weeks leading up to last year’s Budget, reports dripping from so-called Treasury sources insisted it was not Rachel Reeves’ fault that tax hikes worth billions of pounds were on the horizon. The [...]
Business feels ‘beaten up’, Burnham ally says Economics Lord Jim O’Neill, one of Andy Burnham’s closest allies, has warned businesses feel “beaten up” by government as he urged the Prime Minister to spare British companies from another punishing raid at the Budget. Speaking to a group of MPs at the Treasury Select Committee, O’Neill doubled down on his opposition to capital gains tax [...]
If Brexit is to blame for Britain’s economic woes what’s the EU’s excuse? September 23, 2026 The Labour government is blaming Brexit for low growth but ignoring that’s it’s a phenomenon plaguing the EU as well, says Paul Ormerod At the weekend, Bridget Phillipson became the latest leading politician to pin the economic woes of the UK on Brexit. She recognised that youth unemployment will continue to rise but argued that [...]
Economists may have ignored the biggest reason for our productivity decline September 16, 2026 Productivity in the West has slowed dramatically since the late 2000s, but there is no consensus as to why.
The answer to regional inequality isn’t public money, it’s productivity September 2, 2026 Andy Burnham’s ambitions for Number 10 North are nothing new, but successive governments have failed to focus on the key reason for differing regional outcomes, says Paul Ormerod The creation of Number 10 North symbolises a key aspect of Andy Burnham’s policies. Namely, to revive the economies of the more deprived parts of the UK. [...]
Digital investment nearly doubles since 2019 yet AI’s growth contributions questioned August 24, 2026 Investment in digital infrastructure has nearly doubled in the space of just five years official data has shown even as economists question whether recent gains in productivity are down to artificial intelligence. A revision of how digital infrastructure spending is calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has suggested that business investment in digital [...]
Can John Healey deliver Burnham’s make-or-break devolution agenda? August 11, 2026 Devolution is Andy Burnham’s preferred growth lever. Maurício Alencar explores how devolution under Chancellor John Healey could save Britain – or destroy it. In 1998, two of the closest aides of then-chancellor Gordon Brown produced a report into the regional economic divide in Britain. The report, called ‘Towards a new regional policy: Delivering growth and [...]
FTSE 100 property giants urge Burnham to unleash London office construction July 20, 2026 London’s leading property giants have urged Andy Burnham to unleash a wave of new office construction in the capital to boost the UK’s stagnant productivity and sluggish growth. The London Property Alliance (LPA), which represents the capital’s 300 biggest property developers and investors, has written to the incoming Prime Minister urging him to designate central [...]
Burnham must walk a tightrope on his ascent to Downing Street June 19, 2026 After Andy Burnham cleared the path for a run at the Labour leadership with an emphatic win in the Makerfield by-election. Maurício Alencar sketches out what an Andy Burnham government could look like – and the balancing act he faces on the way there Despite romping home to victory in the Makerfield by-election on Friday, [...]