This week it seems that another Net Zero domino will fall. The Government is reported to be on the point of announcing that the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which lays down targets for the sale of new cars, will be watered down. This follows a consultation launched in August. At present, manufacturers are under […]
Andy Burnham’s much-promised strong and decisive leadership has been long on vibes, short on action during his first 100 days. With one telling exception. He has stuck to his guns about what the nation should call white bread rolls. Namely, ‘barm cakes’, as they do in his new constituency of Makerfield. In doing so, he’s […]
This week, Nimby Watch is paying a visit to the University of Warwick Warwick! What a beautiful place to visit. We’ve got the River Avon, a truly historic castle – begun by William the Conqueror himself – and a beautiful series of heritage buildings. What a delight. I assume you want to bulldoze half of […]
The problem with being a political golden boy like Labour pensions minister Torsten Bell is that it paints a target on your back, putting you firmly in the crosshairs of rivals and commentators in your own party and the opposition every time you do or say anything at all. Kudos, then, to the man widely […]
Reports earlier this week suggested that there have been ‘robust cabinet discussions’ over the Government’s approach to AI. The Financial Times reports that those discussions have yielded seven core principles, signed off but not yet published, including that ‘control and sovereignty matter’ and ‘infrastructure must serve a national purpose and deliver for communities’. Missing from […]
I’ll declare an interest. I sit on Reform UK’s Board and I’ve known Nigel Farage for a quarter of a century. So when Kemi Badenoch tells the country that Reform are ‘another left-wing party’, that we and Labour are arguing for ‘the same things, nationalisation, the two-child benefit cap’, that Farage is Jeremy Corbyn wrapped […]
The Commonwealth is an anachronism in the 21st century – an imperial hangover that shows no signs of abatement but is instead getting worse. As King Charles addressed his subjects in Antigua and Barbuda ahead of this week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM), our Prime Minister was throwing out statements about possible apologies and […]
Emma Reynolds, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is one of the more sensible Labour MPs. She resigned as a front bencher when Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader and is firmly in the moderate wing of the Labour Party. Which is why her comment yesterday that ‘I don’t think employers are working people’ is all […]
Yesterday, the Chancellor had the chance to confront a runaway benefits bill and a tax burden strangling growth. He bottled both, and instead billed the banks and workers. John Healey stood up yesterday afternoon and told the Commons that fiscal discipline was his first commitment. He then announced that Britain will borrow more in every […]
The right language aimed at the wrong level. This was a Budget focused on micro-management. The Chancellor used the right language about the need to help workers and business, but it was predicated on ‘the state knows best’, with significant interference through targeted spending and tax hikes. The Red Book contained no fewer than 98 […]
Imagine borrowing £10,000 from the bank, lending it to a friend, then telling everyone the debt’s gone – because your friend owes you the money. That’s obviously nonsensical – you still owe the same £10,000 to the bank, regardless of what you did with the money. But that’s Labour’s approach to our public finances. Let […]
The Government has finally bowed to common sense and given the green light to the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea. It’s the sensible move and a good start, although a decision on Rosebank is not yet forthcoming. Given the resistance both projects have faced, it’s worth setting out why Jackdaw’s approval is good […]
When John Healey sits down next Wednesday, the press gallery will focus hard on his headroom against the fiscal rules. In March the OBR put this at £23.6 billion against the main rule, which requires day-to-day spending to be covered by revenue by 2029/30. A recent Reuters poll of economists suggests it has since shrunk […]
Let’s go fly a kite? There has been rather less briefing about proposals to be announced in next week’s Budget than in recent years. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, has been far less forthcoming than his predecessors, Rachel Reeves and Jeremy Hunt, whose plans were dribbled out weeks in advance. Some have suggested […]
There wasn’t much to like about the previous iteration of this Labour Government but airport expansion was one of them. Rachel Reeves committed early on to expanding City airport, opening the baffling spare runway at Gatwick, expanding Luton and Stansted and building a third runway at Heathrow. It was an aviation extravaganza for London aimed […]
It’s never easy being young. The hormones, the debt, the uncertainty: the burden hangs heavy. Under Labour, it’s become even harder. In the period April-June this year, there were 981,000 Britons aged 16-24 classed as not in education, employment or training (NEET). This is both morally and fiscally unconscionable. Being a NEET is not fun, […]
The remarkable thing about Britain’s tax burden is that however high it rises, the government always manages to spend more than it can afford, and John Healey’s first Budget looks unlikely to be any different. Businesses are expected to swallow higher taxes, workers are expected to give up more of their earnings and anyone lucky […]
The IMF has just published its biannual World Economic Outlook. The report appeared to be modestly good news for the UK, predicting higher-than-expected economic growth of 1.3% in 2026, up from a 1% forecast in July. But one thing that caught my eye was the way that the IMF reported that the UK would see […]
‘Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,’ says Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather Part III’. A decade after we voted to leave the European Union, much of the establishment is still in denial about the verdict that was delivered. Andy Burnham has been absolutely shameless. Campaigning in the Makerfield by-election, […]
Under Westminster City Council’s planning policies you couldn’t build Parliament today. In the eyes of modern planners, the gothic revival Palace of Westminster would be considered ‘pastiche’ – and Westminster City Council writes on pastiche that: …pastiche designs, which are pale imitations of historic buildings, [are not] appropriate or desirable. There are lines like this […]
Andy Burnham used the Labour Party conference in Liverpool this week to commit the Government to a National Care Service, universal and free at the point of use, while promising to ‘stick to our fiscal rules to get borrowing and debt down’. The service is due in the next Parliament and is supposed to be […]
Picture the scene. A new Labour leader delivering his first speech as Prime Minister to the party conference, two years after a general election victory. The fiscal backdrop is poor, financial markets are not convinced by the credibility of UK economic policy and there is a deep divide between what his MPs want and what […]
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