‘Nothing can stop it’ – The state expands like the horror film Blob Politics The 1958 classic horror film The Blob scored mixed reviews on its release, with critics lamenting the poor acting and weak dialogue. Posters for the movie warned that the alien blob “devours everything in its path” and “nothing can stop it” – which is why, half a century later, Michael Gove resurrected and popularised the [...]
The urgent case for massive welfare reform is now impossible to ignore Politics By accident or design, Britain is facing a moment of reckoning when it comes to welfare spending. The issue serves as a major fault line in Westminster, with the Tories pledging to slash the benefits bill while Andy Burnham vows there will be “no crude cuts” to the hundreds of billions of pounds spent across [...]
Burnham speaks with all the confidence of a mayor but without the gravitas of a Prime Minister Politics Andy Burnham earned his spurs as a great communicator on the back of a few summer TikToks, but is the shine coming off just a couple of months into the new job? While some people still appreciate the supposedly down to earth ‘tell it like it is’ approach, there can be no denying that the [...]
Badenoch puts Tories on difficult path to the right destination October 8, 2026 Party conference season has come to an end, having barely registered for most voters beyond an extra dose of politics on the news and in their feeds. Party leaders always have to balance two audiences: their supporters in the hall and the sceptics at home. As a new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham’s conference speech was [...]
Will anyone turn Badenoch’s looming battle into a tapestry? October 7, 2026 The Tory party has been enjoying itself in Birmingham, not least thanks to the delightful wheeze of mocking up the Bayeux Tapestry to tell the story of British politics under Labour’s first two years in power. The exhibition may well prove to be among the most popular offerings at the party conference; behind Jeremy Clarkson [...]
With Brexit on the ballot the next election will be box office October 1, 2026 Whatever else Andy Burnham’s conference speech achieves, it has certainly opened up some major dividing lines in British politics – and some old wounds. The next election, when it comes, could well have Brexit on the ballot after the PM said he’s open to looking at everything from joining the customs union or entering the [...]
Burnham sets out his socialist stall and business barely gets a mention September 30, 2026 We were told to expect a speech that would leave no room for doubt about what Andy Burnham believes in, and we got one. There might not be much detail yet about how the Burnham Revolution will unfold but there is no ambiguity, either. The Prime Minister painted a vision of what this country could [...]
Andy Burnham can’t treat Heathrow expansion as a local planning issue September 29, 2026 Has Andy Burnham’s commitment to devolution morphed into a convenient excuse not to lead? I ask, because he seems to have excused himself from the debate about a critical £50bn national infrastructure project: Heathrow’s third runway. The project has been debated since the 1980s but officially kicked off in 2003 when Labour’s Alistair Darling, then [...]
Treasury’s new Head of Growth will have their work cut out September 24, 2026 Do you want the good news or the bad news? Trick question, I’m afraid. There is no good news. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised its forecast for UK economic growth this year from 0.9 per cent to 1.1 per cent, but – before you reach for the champagne – they’ve [...]
Frozen tax thresholds to hold back Brits for ten miserable years September 23, 2026 In March 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak described it as “a tax policy that is progressive and fair.” In November 2022, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt extended the policy, describing it as necessary and fair. In October 2024, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an end to the policy, saying extending it beyond 2028 “would hurt working people.” Alas, a [...]
