After the Government’s timid attempt to slow the growth of welfare spending collapsed under pressure from its own backbenchers and disability activists, ministers needed a way out. Their answer was to agree to the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) ‘co-produced’ with disability groups. It never stood a chance. With a steering group overwhelmingly […]
Student loans have been in the headlines recently, with backlash over a freeze in repayment thresholds spilling over into anger with the student loan system in general. Many graduates accept they should pay back what they borrow, but are frustrated that high interest rates mean they end up owing much more. This frustration is understandable, […]
Health and defence emerged as the ‘biggest winners’ at the recent spending review, bagging big funding increases, at the expense of other departments that now face a 0.3% annual real terms cut. This was a deliberate choice by the Government, which has now bet everything on being able to deliver improvements in the NHS before […]
Quango bonfires are back in fashion – not that they were ever really put out. For years, successive governments have promised to slash the size of our bloated state. Instead, they’ve quietly outsourced power to an alphabet soup of arm’s-length bodies, many of which operate with minimal scrutiny, high costs and an ever-expanding footprint on […]
Even after years of so-called ‘austerity’, government spending as a percentage of national income just prior to the pandemic in 2019 was still higher than every single year from 2001 to 2007. This insatiable appetite for government spending under both parties has led to a shortfall in the public finances. In order to pay for […]
The much-hyped independent investigation into the National Health Service by Lord Darzi was released on Thursday. It confirms what has long been obvious to anyone who has tried to schedule an appointment or procedure, but offers little beyond the same tired lines on austerity and recycled reforms that have been promised many times before. The […]
Public sector net debt reached a record £2.5 trillion in 2023-24 and is set to hit an almost unimaginable £3trn by 2028-29, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. This alarming trend demands attention. While politicians have been keen to play the blame game over the dire state of public finances, none have presented anything […]
