Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
School reform is by some margin the best Conservative policy, but could it be better still? The Independent today runs a piece in which Michael Gove is told he’s making a “terrific mistake” by refusing to allow his proposed independent schools to make a profit. The comments come from Mikael Sandstrom, a state secretary (or
I’ve just picked up The Hugo Young Papers – his notes from his meetings with the great and the good. It’s a lively read, if you skip the bits about Europe (well, the bit where Ed Balls stresses his impeccable Europhile credentials is fun), and you see a fascinating glimpse of what Brown says in private conversation. And
You don’t need a cat-stroking authoritarian to damage democracy and erode liberties. You just need to sit back and talk as if the system is a law unto itself. I believe Gordon Brown is being honest when he denies knowledge of the Damian Green arrest. No10 knows there will be an inquiry, and it will
Conservative backbenchers were in good voice on Monday, and by prearrangement. The whips had sent around the message that there was to be raucous heckling as Alistair Darling read out what used to be called the Autumn Statement. Duly, there were roars of indignation at the Chancellor’s claims that Britain was best-prepared for a downturn,
Word is that Michael Martin has hit the roof today. He was informed about the Sergeant-At-Arms’ (deplorable) decision to let anti-terror police forage through Damian Green’s office (I gather they’re still happily at work stripping his constituency office bare). As Speaker, he had to be informed but did not have to give his permission. The
And Damian Green is suspected of what, exactly? I just spoke to Steve Moxon, who was a whistleblower in the Home Office and sacked for leaking stories. As you can imagine, he knows more about the legalities of all this than most. When he was rumbled, he said, he was safe under the Public Interest
So what did Damian Green leak that has warranted his arrest? From what I can gather, here are the three of the stories in this case. The links are not necessarily to the papers who broke the stories. The topics are not just immigration, as I had earlier thought. But they are all in the
We can now give you that Tory story. Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, has for some time had a whistleblower in the Home Office, which resulted in four stories ending up in the newspapers. And for this, at 12.50 today he was arrested – but not charged. On suspicion of what, you might ask? “Suspicion
When Gordon Brown has nightmares, what does he see? I suspect it’s something pretty close to Ken Cox’s brilliant cartoon to accompany my cover piece in this week’s Spectator. It shows Cameron and Osborne in their Bullingdon Club outfits jostling Brown, taking a leg each, until borrowed cash is falling out of his pockets. Like
Can someone please tell Angela Merkel that the world is behind Gordon Brown in a great consensus? Because the German Chancellor seems to have forgotten. After rejecting Brown’s casino approach to public finance (borrow like mad, and encourage the public to do the same, then hail yourself as an economic genius), Germany has two things
Can David Cameron make national debt into a campaign issue? He tried in PMQs today asking if Brown can confirm he’s doubled the debt to £1 trillion. Problem is: few knew “trillion” was a real word until recently. When Brown decided not to have a payback plan he figured no one would really care. It’s
Gordon Brown is hoping that the sheer size of the borrowing numbers that Alistair Darling announced on Monday will stop people from comprehending them. But we hope that this video—adapted from the brilliant one that won MoveOn’s competition to design an ad against Bush in 2004— will bring home the consequences of this debt. On
A devastating blow against Brown’s “tax the rich” plan from the Institue of Fiscal Studies today. How much will the new 45 percent tax rate for those over £170,000 raise? “Approximately nothing” says the IFS and adds that “HM Treasury would raise more with, eg, a 44 percent rate”. This reminds us why most developed
The IFS post budget briefing is becoming as anticipated by the media as the budget itself, and I’m sitting at the back with the crowds. The IFS spotted the 5 million losers from the abolition of the 10p tax band which Brown claims to have only noticed afterwards. So what do they see this time?
The more you study the Recession Budget, the more it hits you: this horror story is a best-case scenario. It’s based on almost comically optimistic assumptions. We are apparently halfway through a recession that finishes next May. Then growth starts again, they’ll magic up £5bn of efficiency savings and the rich will somehow break the
So this was the Recession Budget surprise: a seven-year horizon with no debt repayment plan. Ha! Bet you didn’t expect that. Britain is to be transformed from a low-debt country into a nation saddled with a wartime debt without having fought a war. And as for today’s Brownie – it’s one the Stern Review used:
Might Gordon Brown take so many risks with the public finances that Britain would be considered in danger of defaulting on its loans? This prospect may be laughed off in Westminster, but not in the City where five-year contracts on UK gilts today surged another 4bps to a record high of 87.5bps. In English, this
Okay, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but I suspect I’ve spotted the first tax con of the budget – because there is a way Brown can turn the VAT cut into a tax rise for small businesses. He may find it too alluring to resist. Small firms and sole traders must charge VAT
The Great Budget Game starts at 4.30pm today. Darling will have delivered his speech; copies of the report will have been sent out; and journalists across the land will be rushing to write it all up. With the post-Budget briefing finishing at 5pm and news desks shouting for copy from 6.30pm onwards, that leaves very
The latest rumour is that Brown will pay for his VAT cut with a delayed 45% rate of tax for those on £175,000 and over. So off the radar has this move been that (unlike a VAT cut) it’s not even in HM Treasury’s ready reckoner. Enough is now know about tax economics at these
