Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
Will the government have room for tax cuts before an election? Politically, it’s thought to be non-negotiable that they must. Having put the tax burden on course for a post-war high by the end of this Parliament, Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are going to have to relieve some of that pressure on taxpayers
Jeremy Hunt has been warning for weeks that inflation could rise over the summer due to an increase in fuel prices. Economists said much the same: the consensus was that the headline rate would jump to 7.1 per cent on the year in August. But this morning the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the rate
You’d struggle to describe the start of 2023 as anything like ‘good economic times’. But according to the OECD’s economic outlook interim report, it’s better than what’s to come. The report, published this morning, expects rising rates around the world to take their toll on economic growth. Global growth has been downgraded for next year –
Was Liz Truss a fiscal hawk inside No. 10? That is the rather startling claim made by the former prime minister, speaking today at the Institute for Government about the future of economic growth. She has claimed public spending would be £35 billion lower over the next few years had her plans been followed, due
14 min listen
Liz Truss took the stage this morning for her first major intervention on the economy since leaving No. 10. Her speech at the Institute for Government comes almost a year to the day since her mini-Budget saw the markets panic and her premiership come to an abrupt end not long after. What did she have
13 min listen
For the first time since 1992 the US and the UK will have elections in the same year, and – for the first time since 1964 – there is a real chance that those campaigns could overlap. How will they impact each other? Kate Andrews speaks to Katy Balls and Freddy Gray.
Train drivers will strike for two days in the coming weeks, on 30 September and 4 October. These dates are no coincidence: they directly overlap with when MPs and attendees will be travelling to and from the Conservative party conference in Manchester. This move from Aslef and the RMT is far from subtle: the unions
12 min listen
The government is reportedly looking into whether it should cut the second phase of HS2. But with so much money having already been pumped into the project, should they just see it through to the end? Katy Balls speaks to Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews.
Last week there should have been a great victory for the British turbine industry. Auctions were held for offshore wind power, asking companies to bid for the right to supply electricity at £44 per megawatt hour – a third of the price offered eight years ago. The government and the renewables lobby hoped that a
Did GDP fall in July because of the wet weather? That’s the argument being made this morning, as the Office for National Statistics reveals that the economy contracted by 0.5 per cent in July, after having grown 0.5 per cent in (warm and sunny) June. Services output, production output and construction sectors all fell, by 0.5 per
11 min listen
Rishi Sunak has refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock in the next Conservative manifesto. What’s behind his equivocation? And, if the triple lock is ditched, will Labour follow suit? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
Whisper it, but British workers seem to be getting a pay rise. This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics reveals that average regular pay (which excludes bonuses) was up by 7.8 per cent between May and July this year, unchanged from the last three-month period. Wage growth has stayed a percentage point above headline inflation
Last week’s anniversary of Liz Truss entering Downing Street could have passed by quietly. But the Trussites had other ideas. Her supporters used the moment to make the case for Trussonomics once again: to say that Truss diagnosed the country’s problems correctly and that she was on track to find solutions – until her many conspirators took
24 min listen
Kate Andrews talks crumbly concrete, overcrowded trains, NHS waiting lists, and describes the general air of despair and asks – who broke Britain? (01.15). Katy Balls analyses Keir Starmer’s reshuffle and describes the appearance of a New Labour restoration as the party prepares for power (11.20), and Max Pemberton outlines the worrying increase of Tourettes
34 min listen
On the podcast: In her cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews writes that political short termism has broken Britain. She joins the podcast alongside Giles Wilkes, former number 10 advisor and senior fellow at the Institute for Government, to ask what went wrong? (01:12) Also this week: In his column Douglas Murray
Is the UK set for its 15th consecutive interest rate hike later this month? Markets expect that rates will peak closer to 6 per cent – up from 5.25 per cent now – but this might not happen immediately – or at all. Speaking at today’s Treasury Select Committee, the Bank’s governor Andrew Bailey suggested
Did Gillian Keegan need to apologise? The Education Secretary thought her ITV interview had ended and she could speak frankly. She insisted the schools’ concrete crisis was down to ‘everyone else’ who had ‘sat on their arse’. It was a fair point, inelegantly expressed. It’s been almost 25 years since the order first went out
26 min listen
Theresa May’s new book, Abuse of Power, will not be a gossip-fuelled account of her time in No. 10. Instead, it’ll be an account of how powerful people make mistakes, and how institutions corrupt. What’s the point of the book, and has the former Prime Minister landed on a real, punishing problem in British politics? Kate
28 min listen
This week Katy Balls asks whether Rishi is a risk taker or whether he’ll choose to play it safe as Conference season approaches (01.17), Owen Matthews explains why America is still Ukraine’s best hope for victory (07.27), Kate Andrews is totally baffled and exasperated by the British refusal to get checked out by a doctor
It’s not often that we see a GDP revision as startling as the one published today. In its Blue Book for 2023 – which includes updated methods for a range of calculations – the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has upgraded the size of the economy in the final quarter of 2021 by 1.7 per
