By: Alys Denby

Alys Denby is opinion and features editor of City AM. She writes the weekly Free Thinking newsletter and presents the video series of the same name. She regularly appears in broadcast media including BBC, Channel 5 Sky News, Times Radio, LBC and GB News. She has previously worked for a think tank and as a parliamentary researcher

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Raising capital gains tax would be a big mistake

August 1, 2024

City A.M.’s consistent warning that the government will raise taxes in their first Budget have been vindicated. Rachel Reeves admitted that “I think we will have to increase taxes” to the News Agents podcast. Labour will no doubt rebut accusations that this is a violation of their election pledges with references to their weaselly caveat [...]
Rayner must defy her own backbenchers and build, baby, build

July 31, 2024

Angela Rayner has clearly been reading City A.M.. In a statement to the House of Commons yesterday the housing secretary outlined plans to build 370,000 homes a year, in a clear victory for our Build, Baby, Build campaign. The challenge now is to realise that ambition in bricks and mortar. It is encouraging, then, that [...]
Look behind you! Rachel Reeves’ political pantomime

July 30, 2024

Rachel Reeves is shocked – shocked she tells you – at the state of the public finances. Never mind that everyone passingly familiar with spreadsheets, including City A.M., had warned her – the chancellor has now discovered what was hiding in plain sight: Britain is poor. Incoming governments promising one thing to get elected and [...]
The business case for the King

July 25, 2024

In a cost of living crisis, headlines suggesting that the King is set for a “£45m pay rise” funded by taxpayers are bound to rankle – but they are misleading. The monarchy is not funded out of the public purse in the ordinary sense. The money the King receives – the Sovereign Grant – is [...]
Benefit cap punishes children for their parents’ choices

July 24, 2024

If Labour are looking to make savings on the welfare bill, there are plenty of places other than the two-child benefit cap to look – starting with the pensions triple lock In a manifesto that was light on detail, two of Labour’s biggest promises were to adopt Conservative policies: on the fiscal rules and the [...]
Tedium alone won’t restore confidence in the economy

July 23, 2024

The theory of Ricardian Equivalence posits that financing public spending out of taxes or borrowing will have the same overall economic consequences. This, David Ricardo argued in 1820, was because rational consumers understand that debt will eventually have to be paid off. They will therefore set aside current income in anticipation of future tax rises. [...]
What’s to blame for Tory woes? Boris Johnson and Brexit

July 9, 2024

If Boris Johnson hadn’t backed Brexit, the Tories could still be in power – and further pandering to the right will only push voters further into the pinstripe embrace of Nigel Farage, argues Alys Denby As an endorsement of Keir Starmer, this election result was equivocal. His thumping majority was won with a vote share [...]
Which is the real party of business?

June 26, 2024

Rishi Sunak has won praise from political strategists for finally distancing himself from his short-lived predecessor, saying “I was right when I warned you about Liz Truss”. But what should the City make of the Conservative leader drawing such a firm line under his party’s experiment with free market ideology? To answer that question, it’s [...]
Reform is needed to save the House of Lords from an abuse of patronage

June 25, 2024

With ‘gamblegate’ engulfing the Conservatives, City A.M. does not recommend betting on politics. But there’s one outcome of this election that’s a dead cert: a victorious Keir Starmer will swiftly appoint dozens of new peers to nod through his legislation and Rishi Sunak will draw up a resignation honour list cloaking various acolytes in ermine as a [...]
London: The 10 stunning projects held up by the planning system

June 20, 2024

All this week, City A.M. has been making the case that London’s future prosperity depends on new buildings. But what about the future that might have been? From rock stars objecting to affordable housing to jumping spiders blocking rollercoasters, vested interests are too often allowed to get in the way of potentially transformative new developments. [...]

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By: Alys Denby

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