Ed Miliband: 2013 budget ‘leading’ Britain towards a ‘lost decade’ - video
Ed Miliband delivers a speech to the People's Policy Forum in Birmingham on Saturday. The Labour leader critisises the 2013 budget, saying the Government has offered 'no change, just more of the same'....
View ArticleCyprus crisis gives George Osborne the political cover he needs
Close examination of the chancellor's budget measures – and the stunning extent of job cuts in the public sector – slides down the agenda in the face of the eurozone's existential travailsThere are...
View ArticleBad week in prospect for Kazakhstan, chancellors and Kingfisher
The economic situation is looking bleak in Britain, France – and even in the booming commodities sectorThere's a cracking old tale about the FTSE 100 miner, Kazakhmys, involving it paying a £30,000...
View ArticleA budget that revives demand for beer, but not much else
The coalition is suffering the worst of both worlds: excoriated by the right for continuing to borrow, but not borrowing enough to bring about a recoveryA friend in the "penny off a pint" pub told me...
View ArticleThe chancellor is for turning after all. And, whisper it, he's switching to...
Faced with the failure of austerity policies, he is about to quietly try out some rather interventionist ideasThe early consensus was that the budget was a political success if an economic non-event....
View ArticleToo little, too complex, badly targeted: this £1bn could be wasted
The additional funds in the budget for childcare risk being squandered on the wrong peopleThe government's decision to spend nearly £1bn on childcare in the budget is welcome. With some of the most...
View ArticleDon't poorer families deserve childcare help too?
Last week George Osborne announced £1bn extra for childcare. What he didn't say was that the big beneficiaries will be middle and high earners. Few poor Britons - or their children - will benefitKatja...
View ArticleBudget: cutting the poor adrift makes no sense | Observer editorial
George Osborne is creating a three-tier societyLabour leader Ed Miliband, with unwitting prescience, taunted George Osborne last week for "a downgraded budget from a downgraded chancellor". This...
View ArticleTories face revolt in the heartlands over council budget axe
Sir Merrick Cockell, chair of the Local Government Association, warns of grassroots uprisingSenior Tories in the shires are in open revolt ahead of the May council elections after George Osborne paved...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne is using Britons as economic cannon fodder | Aditya Chakrabortty
This is a dangerous time to push the property market. The chancellor won't invest – yet he's happy for us toMassive public debt: bad. Massive private debt: excellent. Gordon Brown's bubble: economic...
View ArticleTheresa May's statement on the UK Border Agency: Politics live blog
• Lunchtime summary• Hunt's statement on Mid Staffs - Main points• May's statement on breaking up UKBA - Summary• Afternoon summary• Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary, has announced that the...
View ArticleMust try harder George - the north's verdict on the Budget
Polling shows that voters in our three regions are starting to blame the coalition for the UK's economic woes, rather than its Labour predecessors. Ed Jacobs sees that weighing with northern MPs in the...
View ArticleHelp to Buy scheme could drive up house prices, says OBR
Office for Budget Responsibility says scheme will do little to boost construction industry but is likely to inflate property pricesGeorge Osborne's flagship scheme to boost the construction industry...
View ArticleHousing policy is a mess – and the budget's 'mortgage guarantee' will not...
The OBR believes that until more houses are built such plans as the mortgage guarantee will make things worseExperts offer their solutions to stimulate building and cut the soaring costs of renting a...
View ArticleNo chocolate cheer this Easter
Chris Riddell on the cold wind blowing through the British economyContinue reading...
View ArticleDoes buying a new-build home leave you on shaky foundations?
As the Help to Buy scheme is launched, we ask whether the dream of buying a new-build home could turn into a nightmare of poor workmanship, delays, and unexpected costsHomebuyers wanting a new-build...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne plans to harness £11.5bn savings via new star chamber
Chancellor upbeat on target for 2015-16 spending review but ministers may face grilling in revived cabinet committeeThe chancellor has decided to reconstitute the government's "star chamber" to help...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne unveils tough benefits curbs in £11.5bn spending cuts package
Unemployed will have to wait seven days before signing on, and Britons abroad lose winter fuel allowance in spending reviewGeorge Osborne has unveiled a series of tough new welfare measures, including...
View ArticleSpending review 2013: what will it mean for science and innovation? | Kieron...
Our panel of science and innovation policy experts digest the details of George Osborne's spending reviewVince Cable's determination to hold his ground against George Osborne fuelled a lot of...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne ends press pre-briefing of core budget details
Report into leak of budget in error by Evening Standard says the media lack good risk management in age of social mediaGeorge Osborne is to ban the pre-briefing to media of core budget decisions...
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