The case for Scottish fiscal autonomy

Fraser Nelson

My solution is to adopt the Basque Country’s setup of “fiscal autonomy” where Scotland’s budget is set at what it can raise in tax. The SNP realises the attractions of a lower-tax model, having seen them work so well in Ireland and the former Soviet Republics. This is the best way of encouraging regeneration that Scotland needs so badly.

I will always defend a big spender like J.M. Keynes

Brown has played into the hands of the Tory Bullingdon Boys he loathes

Fraser Nelson says that the Pre-Budget Report killed off New Labour without landing a punch on the Tories. It has paved the way for a new Conservatism, in which Cameron woos aspirational voters, focuses on government debt and looks for responsible spending cuts

Fraser Nelson

Sarkozy’s dream of taming America is doomed

The American model of lightly regulated capitalism may be in disrepute, says Irwin Stelzer. But the French President’s ambition is deluded

Irwin Stelzer

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Arts

Out of the ordinary

Carolyn Bartholomew

Carolyn Bartholomew talks to Tilda Swinton, an actor who has made a career out of being unconventional

Books

Stars bright and dim

Philip Hensher

State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America (by Edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey)

Style & Travel

An outing in St James’s

Joseph Connolly

Tis the season for all those smug or withering articles by women insisting how very useless men are at shopping: it’s nonsense — they can do it, but they do need a plan.