Mel stride

From Thatcher to Truss, who’s haunting Mel Stride?

17 min listen

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride delivered a speech today where he attempted to banish the ghost of Liz Truss and improve the Conservatives’ reputation over fiscal credibility. And he compared leader Kemi Badenoch to Thatcher, saying she too struggled at first and will ‘get better’ at the dispatch box. LBC broadcaster Iain Dale and the Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons join deputy political editor James Heale to unpack Stride’s speech, talk about Labour’s latest policy announcement over free school meals and discuss why both the main parties are struggling with fiscal credibility. Plus, Iain talks about his new book Margaret Thatcher and the myths he seeks to dispel. Why does he

Tory MP urges DWP transparency

Welfare reform is back in Westminster, with both Labour and the Tories now seeking solutions to deal with the 5.2 million on out-of-work benefits – a figure which The Spectator was first to pick up on. The Times today splashed on possible government proposals with Labour’s Jon Ashworth now accusing his opposite number Mel Stride of ‘stealing’ his proposals. In such circumstances, the Department for Work and Pensions could do worse than consider an intriguing proposal put forward by John Penrose MP, the UK’s long-time Anti-Corruption Champion. Now confined to the backbenches, Penrose is channelling his reforming zeal into new avenues instead. The Weston-super-Mare MP has written to Stride, urging him to improve