Labour Shadow Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds recently stated that Labour’s approach to international trade would be similar to that of Joe Biden in the US. While there are certainly some positive points in Labour’s trade agenda such as its commitment to reforming the Board of Trade, attempting to replicate Bidenomics in the UK […]
With his crazy hair, cloned dogs named after famous economists, and a penchant for wielding a chainsaw on the TV, Argentina’s President-Elect Javier Milei is certainly an unconventional politician. It’s not just his personality that has raised a few eyebrows either. His policies have caused a great deal of controversy, not least his plan to […]
Jeremy Hunt is under pressure from Tory backbenchers to cut taxes in the Autumn Statement. It’s been reported that Hunt believes that higher than expected tax revenues gives him the headroom to cut inheritance tax. While inheritance tax is in dire need of reform, it would be a mistake to cut it at this time. […]
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) came into force over the weekend. It is part of the EU’s strategy to tackle climate change and carbon leakage by imposing a charge on the embedded carbon content of certain imports such as cement, iron, and steel that is equal to the charge imposed on domestic goods […]
The Prime Minister has arrived in India for the G20 summit. It has been rumoured that the government will use it as an opportunity to announce that a deal for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the UK and India has been struck. While a deal has the potential to be very significant, there has […]
‘Sunday Bloody Sunday really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday – you wake up in the morning, you’ve got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running around, you’ve got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you think ‘Sunday, bloody Sunday!’.’ Now, Alan Partridge’s attempts to bond with two Irish TV […]
Suella Braverman’s comments about Indian migrants overstaying their visas may have riled Indian officials enough to undermine a potential UK-India trade deal. That would be a great pity. As I wrote for this site back in January, an agreement with India has huge potential for both countries in terms of driving economic growth. (Nor, contrary to […]
Today’s announcement from Liz Truss that the Government is going ahead with a ban on ‘no fault’ evictions is extremely welcome. Though it wasn’t official policy, reports had been circulating that she planned to shelve the plans, which were worked up under Michael Gove when he headed up the Levelling Up / Housing mega-department. By […]
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of lockdowns was the pedestrianisation of parts of our major cities. In Soho, for example, the council banned cars at certain times, allowing bars and restaurants to serve people outside. In Oxford, one of the roads which runs through the centre of the city was transformed into Broad […]
Reports that the Government is poised to scrap its Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) are concerning for a number of reasons. By way of background, ELMS essentially replaces the current system of paying farmers to produce food on their land with a system which would pay them to provide space for native species, such as […]
Corporation tax in the UK has been cut and these cuts have not lead to increases in investment. That’s the claim made in a new blog from the Institute for Public Policy Research, an which has been widely reported in the media. Unfortunately, it is wrong on both counts. First, it’s incorrect to say that […]
The new Prime Minister Liz Truss has kicked off her time in Number 10 with a promise to ‘get the United Kingdom working, building, and growing’. Given that the UK has already experienced one lost decade after the financial crisis and is currently on course for another, there can be no more urgent priority than […]
Liz Truss has proposed cutting VAT by 5% if she becomes Prime Minister, a move she is calling the ‘nuclear option’ to help tackle the cost of living crisis. Though it’s welcome to hear her addressing the deep concerns people have about rising prices, cutting VAT isn’t the way to go about it. The main […]
With A Level results now in and university places being confirmed, the perennial issue of university funding has once again raised its head. Many commentators are taking the opportunity to criticise universities for asking for more money and stirring up concerns about foreign students robbing UK teenagers of a spot at our elite universities. These […]
Yesterday Pakistan celebrated its 75th Independence Day. It should be a cause for celebration, but unfortunately just serves as a reminder that the country is still beset with problems and has failed to live up to its potential. In the 1960s Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development and touted as the next […]
Do you fancy a late night sausage roll? It’s an odd question (and I’m not trying to flirt), but it’s one at the heart of a bizarre battle between Greggs, the Metropolitan Police, and Westminster Council. The bakery chain wants to be able to serve customers 24 hours a day from its new store in […]
We know the cost of living is the most pressing issue facing the next Prime Minister, but so far neither candidate has really set out what they would do to tackle it. The closest we’ve got is Liz Truss promising tax cuts that she says will spur growth and tame inflation, while Rishi Sunak argues […]
Sri Lanka’s economy is in a mess. Although it is encouraging that the largely peaceful protests have forced the President and Prime Minister to resign, the country will still face huge challenges and the people will continue to suffer. The problems facing Sri Lanka are largely the result of bad economic and political decisions. What […]
The assassination of Shinzo Abe last week was as shocking as it was evil. Abe will rightly go down in history as Japan’s most significant politician since the end of the Second World War. What is more, his economic reforms have much to teach the UK’s next government. When Shinzo Abe took office for the […]
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the resignation of the Prime Minister’s Ethics Adviser Lord Geidt is the involvement of a relatively obscure public body known as the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA). We do not have all the details at present, but what we do know raises important questions about the UK’s approach to trade […]
