Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
What will Liz Truss’s legacy be? The obvious answer is her 49-day stint in Downing Street. But she is determined not to settle for that. Today in Westminster, she oversaw the formal launch of her new project, The Growth Commission, dedicated to spreading the message she tried to convey as prime minister: the importance of
Mortgage costs have reached a 15-year high today, with the average two-year fixed deal hitting 6.66 per cent – the highest level since the summer of the 2008 financial crash. But today’s mortgage news is being pegged to far more recent history, as average deals just topped their peak from last autumn, when Liz Truss’s
The labour market continues to show signs of becoming less tight – but this won’t be fast enough for the Bank of England’s liking. The UK unemployment rate rose to 4 per cent – up 0.2 per cent on the quarter. But this relatively small change is indicative of more people moving off the economic
Will Labour and the Tories be heading into the next election ‘following the same tram lines on spending?’ That was the question the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg put to Rachel Reeves this morning, as the shadow chancellor insisted once again that the Labour party is committed to fiscal discipline, promising to ‘not play fast and loose
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This week: Kate Andrews on the NHS and the celebrations that marked its 75th birthday (01:05), Igor Toronyi-Lalic is in Marseille watching with interest as the riots happen around him (06:57) and Ivo Dawnay describes how being related to Boris is cramping his style oversees (11:13). Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran.
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The NHS marks its 75th anniversary today, and in Westminster, both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer attended a service at Westminster Abbey in honour of the organisation. James Heale talks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about why there was a church service for the NHS and whether Rishi Sunak’s time would have been better
It’s a rare occasion that sees politicians put aside their feuds and rivalries to gather together at Westminster Abbey. These moments are limited to weddings, coronations, funerals – and the National Health Service’s birthday. This week the Prime Minister, the opposition leader and a sprinkling of royals joined together to mark the NHS’s 75th anniversary,
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Rishi Sunak’s personal approval rating among Tory members has turned negative for the first time in his premiership. Why is the Prime Minister becoming more unpopular in his party? Should he be worried about internal dissent? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews. Produced by Max Jeffery.
When the average two-year fixed mortgage hit 6 per cent last month, panic started to set in. For the 1.3 million homeowners set to renew before Christmas, many would now be facing interest payments three times higher than what they had originally paid. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt immediately called a meeting with lenders and customer representatives
We’re going to hear a lot about the NHS this week: mostly tributes and praise – and even a few prayers – all in recognition of its 75th anniversary on Wednesday. The loudest criticism you’re likely to hear will be about underfunding – which is not the fault of NHS officials, really, but rather the fault of politicians
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Next week is the NHS’s 75th birthday. Why is the health service in such a poor state? Are the Tories selling it off? And is there any hope for its future? Max Jeffery speaks to Kate Andrews and Isabel Hardman.
The NHS is in crisis, but the government at last has a plan: a ‘Long-term Workforce plan’, that is, aimed at getting staffing levels up to something functional in the years to come. The £2.4 billion blueprint (which has big question marks around how it will be funded) was published today. Medic placements will be
Thames Water appears to be in trouble. The company, which has billions in debt, is in talks with the Treasury about a possible bailout. We may soon be adding the firm, which serves one in four Brits, to the list of victims of rising interest rates. ‘Victim,’ in this case, is perhaps the wrong word. It’s hard
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Kate Andrews is joined by Fraser Nelson and Johan Norberg, author of The Capitalist Manifesto: why the global free market will save the world. On the podcast Johan talks about its why lockdown societies never worked; whether he finds the word capitalism useful and his endless optimism for a better future.
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James Heale speaks to Isabel Hardman and Kate Andrews as the Bank of England announced it has hiked interest rates to 5 per cent. Faced with inflation, a looming mortgage crisis and personal debt, Rishi Sunak said today he is ‘100 per cent on it’. But can he turn things around? Produced by Natasha Feroze.
The Monetary Policy Committee has voted seven to two to take interest rates to 5 per cent, a 0.5 point increase. Its thirteenth rise in a row takes rates to their highest level in 15 years, and is being described as a ‘shock’ increase, brought in as a response to the rise in core inflation on the
In December Jeremy Hunt hosted a mortgage summit, attended by lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority, to discuss rate woes. At the time, the numbers were at least moving in the right direction. During Liz Truss’s 49-day premiership, the FCA expected interest rates to rise to 5.5 per cent, an increase which was forecast to
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Natasha Feroze speaks to Kate Andrews and Katy Balls about today’s inflation figures, stuck at 8.7 per cent despite predictions it would fall. As a flagship policy of Rishi Sunak’s to half inflation, what options does the Prime Minister have?
Inflation figures out this morning make for grim reading: the headline rate didn’t budge, sticking at 8.7 per cent on the year in May. Far worse, core inflation (which excludes food and energy) rose once again, to 7.1 per cent on the year in May, up from 6.8 per cent in April. This latest update from the
The average two-year fixed mortgage now sits at 6 per cent, according to financial data group Moneyfacts – just below the 6.65 per cent reached in December last year, after the fallout from Liz Truss’s mini-Budget. Five-year fixed rates aren’t too far behind, at 5.7 per cent. For many of the 2.4 million homeowners whose
