All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Mr Speaker, It is a privilege to report today on an economy which the IMF predicts will be the fastest growing major advanced economy in the world this year. An economy with employment at a record high – and unemployment at an 11 year low. An economy which, through the hard work of the British
It’s a big day in the Commons with the Autumn Statement. Perhaps that’s why seat tensions ran so high at PMQs among Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet. After arriving in good time, Diane Abbott — dressed in a showstopping silver jacket — secured a prime seat next to the dear leader. Alas when Tom Watson arrived,
Online petitions don’t actually change things, do they? What a silly waste of time. Politicians don’t actually listen to…the people, right? Millennials are so naïve, look at them indulging their narcissism with online clicktivism. Or not. After seven months of campaigning to Make Renting Fair at The Debrief, working with the likes of Lib Dem
If there’s one thing sure to get estate agents’ knickers in a twist, it’s a threat to their income. And so the news that Philip Hammond will use the Autumn Statement to announce a ban on letting fees has sparked a tirade of protestations and a bumper crop of press releases lamenting their lot. But
One story dominates the financial news this morning: the Autumn Statement. A slew of predictions, speculation and leaks feature in newspapers and websites, including yesterday’s widely trailed announcement of a £1 billion boost to improve broadband speeds for up to 2 million homes and businesses. Other measures expected in Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Statement include ways to
Here’s a tip for judges, businessmen, peers, politicians and former PMs who don’t like being called ‘enemies of the people’: stop behaving like enemies of the people. This week it is reported that Tony Blair is polishing his toothy grin to make a comeback into British politics, potentially as thwarter, or just tamer, of the ‘catastrophe’
Philip Hammond offered up few surprises in his Autumn Statement. As predicted, he said the minimum wage will go up (slightly), fuel duty will be frozen, letting agency fees will be banned and George Osborne’s welfare reforms will be partly softened, with the ‘taper rate’ for Universal Credit slowed down. But he did save room for one
The Sun has warm words for Philip Hammond ahead of his Autumn Statement announcement this afternoon. The Chancellor’s plans for a rise in the national living wage, ‘a U-turn on benefit cuts to low-paid workers and a crackdown on exorbitant letting agents’ fees’ are praised for ‘improving Sun readers’ lot’. The paper goes on to
Yesterday was another mad day in Trumpland — or America, as it used to be called. The president-elect started the morning off by promising, somewhat mystically on Twitter, that ‘Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years’. But the
So, dear old Boris has put his size 10s in it again, upsetting prosecco producers and Italians everywhere with his frank and forthright views about Brexit and the cheaper end of the Italian sparkling wine industry. Our former editor and current Foreign Secretary seemed to suggest that Italy should back his version of a Brexit
If you think Theresa May has made life difficult for ‘right-wing libertarians’ in the UK, spare a thought for the poor schmucks across the pond. I was in Washington DC for a few days either side of the presidential election and the overwhelming impression I got from various think tank wonks I spoke to was
Location, location, location is the estate agent’s mantra when asked to define what makes a property hot – or not. But these days where your house sits on the digital highway can also prove crucial to luring prospective buyers. It’s no secret that the rollout of super-fast broadband and mobile connectivity in the UK has
The English football team have a problem and everyone knows it. After a string of disappointing results, many fans are beginning to lose faith that their team will ever come out on top again. Happily, Labour’s Stella Creasy thinks she has got to the bottom of what’s going wrong for our boys. The issue? Too many
Ahead of tomorrow’s Autumn Statement, speculation has been growing about what policies the government have up their sleeves. However, another thing to look out for is strained relations between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister. Speculation has been growing in Westminster for some time that Theresa May and Philip Hammond don’t particularly see eye-to-eye. So, with that in
Donald Trump is not wasting any time on trade. Or is he? In his video message about what he’ll do on day one, he said he’d abandon Barack Obama’s plan to broker a 12-country free-trade agreement for the Pacific region, the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership (or TPP). But that’s the thing with the Donald – it’s impossible to
As the government ‘consider’ inviting Donald Trump for a state visit, the president-elect was top of the agenda at today’s Foreign Office questions. With the Westminster establishment riled over Trump’s latest tweet claiming Nigel Farage would make a ‘great’ UK ambassador to the US, Simon Burns hit back — suggesting Boris Johnson return the favour and request Trump
Donald Trump has been putting the cat amongst the diplomatic pigeons—again. His tweet suggesting that Nigel Farage should be made the UK’s ambassador to the US couldn’t have been better designed to wind up the UK government by reminding everyone that it is the leader of Britain’s third party—not the Prime Minister—who knows the president-elect
Philip Hammond will provide more than £1 billion to improve broadband speeds for up 2 million homes and businesses as part of an infrastructure plan to be detailed in the Autumn statement tomorrow. The Guardian reports that, following calls from businesses for more support for the digital economy, the Chancellor will back a £400 million digital infrastructure fund.
Theresa May’s decision to row back on her pledge to put workers on company boards receives a mixed reception in the papers today. The Sun and the FT are among those to say it’s good that the PM has opted to change her mind. But the Guardian isn’t happy: calling the PM’s u-turn a ‘betrayal’.
So, austerity is to end. Or that is what the briefings for Wednesday’s Autumn Statement seem to indicate: Philip Hammond will loosen the purse strings, relax his fiscal targets and give the economy a big public spending-induced buzz – if indeed buzz is quite the right word for what happens when governments spend money. There
Since Donald Trump won the presidential election, he has made it clear that he has no intention to play by the rules. On top of plans for his wife Melania to remain in New York — rather than move into the White House straightaway — and keep his business interests active throughout his term, the president-elect
Jonathan Ray visits the oldest rum distillery in the world and gets his hands dirty blending My travels round the Caribbean wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Mount Gay, the longest-established rum brand in the world. The oldest surviving deed from the company shows that it was in operation as early as 1703 and
In Grenada, Jonathan Ray attempts to extend his life by eating plenty of dark chocolate. I’m in the House of Chocolate mini museum in St. George’s, Grenada, and Kindra, my guide, is giving me a brief chocolate master class. Not only do I learn all about its production, I stuff my face with as much
Winston Churchill said the inherent vice of capitalism is its unequal share of blessings. Today, the ever-widening chasm of inequality is contributing to a potential tide of political shocks across the West. But it is not all doom and gloom. A rapidly increasing number of individuals are attempting to redress inequalities by using their money
Here we go again. First Steven Woolfe quit Ukip following a row with his MEP colleagues and now it is the turn of Diane James, the former party leader. James has released a statement announcing that she will sit in the European Parliament as an independent — adding by way of explanation that her relationship with
Discovering my sons’ school had invited back former pupil Milo Yiannopoulos as a guest speaker was the highlight of an otherwise terrible parents’ evening. I chatted with the Head of School about the teenage Milo and whether there had been any clues as to his future transformation into a darling of the alt-right and anti-hero
So, Angela Merkel has ignored the Spectator’s advice and has decided to run for a fourth term as German Chancellor in next year’s federal elections. If she wins and serves a full term, she’ll overtake Helmut Kohl as the longest serving German Chancellor since Bismarck. What does Merkel’s bid for four more years mean for
Corporation Tax The Prime Minister will today pledge to match the lowest corporation tax rates within the G20 — even if that means sinking to President-elect Trump’s 15 percent, says The Times. At her conference speech, Theresa May seemed to signal that she would be cracking down on big business which saw tax as ‘an
And once more the polls have got it wrong. For months French pollsters confidently predicted that the first round of voting to find the centre-right candidate to represent Les Républicains in next year’s presidential election was a straight shootout between Nicolas Sarkozy and Alain Juppé. The other five contenders? There to make up the numbers
Today Theresa May used her speech at the CBI annual conference to both reassure and inspire business leaders about Brexit Britain. In doing this, she also managed to upset a number of Brexiteers by suggesting — in the Q&A — that the government could pursue a ‘transitional deal’ with the EU as ‘people don’t want a
So farewell, then, Nicolas Sarkozy. After winning just 21pc of the votes in the primary to decide the conservative candidate (and, most likely, the next French president) he has bowed in favour of François Fillon, his 62-year-old former Prime Minister, who had an unexpectedly good campaign. Just a month ago, Fillon was languishing on less
Today the Confederation of British Industry hosts its annual conference. Last year, David Cameron gave a speech to attendees and this year it’s Theresa May’s turn. Alas signs so far suggest it won’t be all smooth-sailing for the Prime Minister. While CBI president Paul Drechsler is expected to use his speech to urge May to ensure
You already know that Coffee House serves up the best analysis, comment and insight into the day’s political events. Why wait for tomorrow’s papers when the best writing is already up online? But our emails – Lunchtime Espresso and Evening Blend – mean you don’t even have to wait until you can log on to
There were two items on BBC radio this morning which rather summed up the Corporation thinking about the State of the World. One was a brief but telling discussion on the Broadcasting House programme as to whether our political discussion now is getting to the point where we can’t actually air differences at all; that,
