Tories target £1bn benefits loophole in welfare crackdown Politics The Conservatives have pledged to close what they claim is a £1bn loophole in the welfare system, in a move aimed at tightening benefit rules and boosting incentives to work. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the party would overhaul the benefit cap so households cannot receive unlimited payments unless all adults who [...]
Graduates are the canary in the coalmine for a failing welfare system Opinion The welfare state is a Ponzi scheme that’s dependent on an ever shrinking cohort of taxpayers, says Anne Strickland Discussion about student loan unfairness has dominated the headlines over the last month, after a freeze in the repayment thresholds led to a backlash about the student loan system in general. With fiscal drag pulling more [...]
The madness of a state that spends more on welfare than it raises from income tax Economics If it were possible to buy Happy New Tax Year cards you’d surely find them stocked in the ‘With Sympathy’ section. As of yesterday, the state has increased its demands on a host of taxpayers. Dividend tax is up two per cent for basic and higher rate taxpayers, with the latter now hit by a [...]
Government can’t fix the jobs crisis alone – employers must step in March 25, 2026 It is companies, not ministers who do the most to create meaningful work. Let’s get to it, says Octavius Black One of Europe’s most successful fintechs has given its employees unlimited access to AI with a simple instruction: build tools that will multiply your productivity by a factor of ten. The results are highly personalised [...]
The UK went into this crisis weak and may emerge from it broken March 25, 2026 Keir Starmer may take every opportunity to stress that the UK isn’t involved in the war and wanted nothing to do with it, but our economy is nevertheless entirely at the mercy of events taking place 4,000 miles away. The prospect of a negotiated settlement (at least anytime soon) feels remote and that uncertainty is [...]
Unemployment is rising and top bosses want to do something about it March 25, 2026 Business giants have come together to find ways of hiring more people currently out of work as private sector bosses move to play a more active role in improving the state of the UK labour market. Company chiefs from the likes of BT, Shell, Marks & Spencer and Pret have joined a new, non-governmental ‘Employer [...]
‘Digging a hole then filling it in’ – Labour to subsidise youth employment March 16, 2026 The Labour government is set to hand businesses cash to hire benefits claimants in a bid to lower the number of under-25s not in education, employment and training, otherwise referred to as ‘Neets’. Pat McFadden, the work and pension secretary, unveiled a new £3,000 subsidy scheme for employers taking on young people who have not been [...]
Reeves lands £30bn reprieve ahead of Spring Statement February 20, 2026 Rachel Reeves has secured a record-breaking borrowing reprieve in fresh data that comes ahead of the Chancellor delivering her Spring Statement in March. The Treasury has been handed a surplus of £30.4bn in January, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show, after a surge in tax receipts. The figure is £15.9bn higher [...]
Jobless graduates claiming benefits totals 700,000, report says January 26, 2026 The number of unemployed graduates claiming benefits now totals 700,000, a new report has estimated, with blame being laid on the UK education system’s “obsession” with getting young people into university. Fresh analysis by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has found the number of jobless graduates receiving welfare support was nearing three quarters of [...]
Reeves isn’t ‘underestimated’, she’s doing a bad job and should resign December 1, 2025 Rachel Reeves has no mandate for taking money from taxpayers to hand to benefits claimants and her self-pitying defences are an insult to the people who are paying for her weakness, writes Alys Denby Rachel Reeves’ position has been untenable from the start. Her promises, during the election, that she would “end austerity” (increase public [...]