Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
How much money do junior doctors really earn? If you’ve been listening to the British Medical Association – the trade union which represents junior doctors – this week you will have seen comparisons made between their salaries and the wages of Pret A Manger employees. The union talks about members having to ‘cut back on
As Joe Biden tours Northern Ireland this week to mark the 25-year anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the big question is not what he might say or do while abroad, but rather what he will decide to do back at home. Will he be running for president again? The question emerged after Biden told
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On the day that junior doctors begin a four-day strike over pay and working conditions, Lucy Dunn, The Spectator’s social media editor and qualified doctor speaks to Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson. Will public support for the strikes turn if patient safety is put at risk? Also on the podcast, Kate takes a look at the latest
Yesterday’s announcement that the UK has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership brought with it a unique sense of unity within the Conservative party, with very different Tory factions praising the new trade bloc. But yesterday is behind us. Now it’s back to business as usual. Today ushers in the corporation tax hikes that
Even the most ardent Brexiteers would likely admit that the UK has been slow to embrace one of the biggest benefits of leaving the European Union: the quick and nimble pursuit of trade deals. There are understandable reasons for the delay. It made sense for trade secretaries to start with the bi-lateral deals which could
One of the most remarkable things about the National Health Service is the extent to which it avoids national criticism. Only a few years ago it was borderline blasphemy to point out problems with the NHS; for politicians, to do so was to dig your own political grave. For the first time in the survey’s
Who, or what, is responsible for the UK’s sky-high inflation rate? Not me, says the Bank of England’s governor. Andrew Bailey has pointed the finger at a number of causes: pandemic and lockdowns, Russia’s war against Ukraine and Britain’s tight labour market. But he singled out one group in particular – early retirees – as
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Britain’s high energy prices, insecure supply, and climate change commitments mean people’s relationship with energy will need to change. How could consumers change their attitude to energy consumption so that they use less? Will doing so give them a worse standard of living? On this podcast, Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economics editor, is joined by Dan
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Keir Starmer today seemed to change his party’s stance on self-identification for transgender people. Before, Starmer said Labour would update the Gender Recognition Act so transgender people could self-identify as whatever gender they wanted. Today, he said that ‘if you’re going to make reforms, you have to carry the public with you.’ What’s changed? Max
There was no easy option for the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this week. Raising interest rates, even by a small amount, could add to financial instability following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and takeover of Credit Suisse over the past few weeks. But holding the base rate at 4 per cent
For the past few months, the debate over inflation in Britain has centred around just how fast the rate might fall. Both the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s most recent forecasts have been very optimistic, showing inflation falling back down to something approaching the Bank’s target of 2 per cent by
To what extent have the public finances really been brought under control? This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics reveals that public sector net borrowing reached £16.7 billion in February. This is more than double the figure from February 2022 of £7.1 billion, and also well above the consensus estimate of around £11 billion.
Has a full-scale banking crisis been avoided? UBS has announced a takeover of rival Credit Suisse for just over $3 billion – half of its valuation on Friday and a tenth of its valuation just two years ago. The deal, timed to conclude before the Asian markets opened, is intended to stop any domino effect
A million pounds is very small change in the context of wider government spending – especially compared to the £20 billion of extra giveaways Jeremy Hunt has announced for the next few years. But sometimes that small change tells you more about a government’s priorities, and its sense of direction, than the big announcements. I
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The day after Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget has been fairly muted compared to recent Budget hangovers. What has been the overall reaction? On the global markets, Kate Andrews looks at the international response after Credit Suisse shares fell by more than 30 per cent yesterday. And what’s behind today’s breakthrough in negotiations between NHS Unions
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On the podcast: The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews looks back on a week of economic turbulence and asks whether we should be worried, for her cover piece in the magazine. She is joined by the economist – and former ‘Trussketeer’ – Julian Jessop, to discuss whether we are entering a new era of economic uncertainty
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Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor has unveiled his spring Budget, which was accompanied by forecasts predicting that the UK will avoid recession this year and that inflation will drop to below 3 per cent by the end of the year. But do the measures go far enough? Katy Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and Fraser Nelson.
The biggest surprise from today’s Budget was not an announcement, but the forecasts that gave Jeremy Hunt room for manoeuvre. The Office for Budget Responsibility has revised its forecasts for economic growth and inflation towards the upside. The OBR no longer expects the UK to enter into a technical recession (two consecutive quarters of negative
Why did nobody see it coming? When the late Queen asked this question about the crash of 2008, on a visit to a London business school, no one had a clear answer. Why, in a financial world crawling with regulators, did no one spot that subprime mortgages were toxic, on the brink of falling apart?
Is the UK’s labour market cooling down? While unemployment remains unchanged at 3.7 per cent, according to today’s update from the Office for National Statistics, the number of job vacancies ‘fell on the quarter for the eighth consecutive period’, down 51,000. The overall number of vacancies, however, still remains above a million. But the biggest indicator things
