Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
Lockdown has always been a matter of trade-offs. The impact of suppressing the economy to also suppress a deadly virus has had consequences on every aspect of life, from non-Covid health treatment, to rising unemployment, to the impact on children’s education. But these costs can be calculated in something much closer to real time. New data
Rishi Sunak’s tax hikes pack a punch: by 2025, over £19bn is estimated to be raised from the freeze to the personal tax threshold, and a staggering £50bn from a new, tiered corporation tax structure. That’s a lot of people out of pocket, and businesses diverting their profits away from workers and consumers and towards
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Could a blip in inflation ruin the UK’s economic recovery? (00:50) Why is support for the IRA becoming normalised? (12:20) What makes a great diarist? (31:15) With The Spectator’s economics correspondent Kate Andrews; economist Julian Jessop; writer Jenny McCartney; politician Mairia Cahill; satirist Craig Brown; and historian, journalist and author Simon Heffer. Presented by Cindy
At first, it seems to make no sense. Britain is in the middle of the worst economic crash in recorded history, with a Chancellor who is famously keen on low taxes, spending control and sound money. But Rishi Sunak this week presented a Budget that seems inspired, in parts, by Labour’s last manifesto. Debt surging
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged a further £65bn in today’s budget, bringing the government’s total spending during coronavirus to more than £400bn. But aside from splurges on extending furlough and the Universal Credit uplift, and new ‘restart grants’ offered to ailing businesses, the first belt-tightening measures were announced. Income tax thresholds will be frozen, and cooperation
For a man who has only delivered two Budgets, Rishi Sunak is no stranger to fiscal announcements. Last March’s £30bn spending splurge was just the start of hundreds of billions of pounds spent in the fight against Covid-19. Today Sunak pledged another £65bn: furlough and the Universal Credit uplift were both extended; incentive payments for businesses to take on
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In the first public appearance since Biden’s inauguration, Donald Trump has spoken to CPAC, the annual conservative conference. Freddy Gray reviews his speech with Kate Andrews.
‘Do you miss me yet,’ Donald Trump asked the crowd in his opening remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference this afternoon: the most important annual conference for the Republican party. The former president was given the keynote address at CPAC, with anticipation that he might have a big announcement to make about his future
Rishi Sunak kept his Budget cards close to his chest this morning as he toured the studios for both BBC One’s The Andrew Marr show and Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday. The Chancellor batted away questions about spending and possible tax hikes, repeating over and over again that it’s only ‘appropriate’ to wait until the
We already know much of what will be in Rishi Sunak’s Budget next week. Another £30bn for Covid-relief measures: furlough scheme into the summer, stamp duty holiday and the uplift in universal credit (which is also expected to be time-limited, despite pressure from the opposition to make a permanent adjustment). But this year’s spending splurges
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The Chancellor is expected to announce tax hikes in next week’s budget as he looks to bolster the public purse and reassure markets. With capital gains and cooperation tax in his sights, how will the decision go down with Tory MPs? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and Kate Andrews.
As the Prime Minister announced the details of his government’s ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown in the Commons on Monday, no doubt some will have been cheering on the announcements, which will allow them to keep their pre-planned parties or holidays scheduled in their diaries. But the timeline has painted a grim picture for business in the
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Today’s speech from the Labour leader was billed to be ‘Beveridge-style’. On the podcast, Kate Andrews tells Katy Balls and James Forsyth why it was nothing of the sort, and they strategise what Starmer should have said.
Keir Starmer’s speech on economic recovery, delivered at Labour’s Southside HQ on Thursday, was hyped as one of the most pivotal moments of his leadership so far. A Labour insider told Politico it had been ‘six months in the making with a huge amount of work going into it’. It was designed to establish a
Former President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Senate today, in what has turned out to be the shortest impeachment trial in American history, after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him last month after the riot at the Capitol building. Despite being the first president impeached twice during his time in office – this
France has become the first country in the world to recommend a different vaccine regime for those who have recovered from the virus. The country’s public health authority has recommended that people previously infected with Covid-19 only receive one jab, rather than two. The advice is based on preliminary data, including two studies from the
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Despite the GDP figures from the ONS today, the Bank of England’s chief economist Andy Haldane has written an optimistic commentary today, arguing why he thinks the British economy will bounce back after Covid restrictions end. Katy Balls talks to Kate Andrews, the Spectator’s Economics Correspondent, and James Forsyth about that possibility.
It’s been no mystery that the UK economy took a severe beating in 2020: two lockdowns, a host of circuit-breakers and fire-breakers, Christmas cancelled for millions of people. The experience of an economy forced to hibernate for months on end last year is reflected in today’s GDP update from the Office for National Statistics, showing
The search for the right balance on border policy continues, as Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced this afternoon a host of new measures that travellers coming to the UK will face. From Monday, all arrivals will need to take two PCR tests: one on day two and another on day eight of self-isolation. This will apply
Since the outrage caused last Friday, when the European Union looked set to undermine the Northern Ireland protocol less than one month after the Brexit deal came into force, there has been little apology from those in charge. This is not terribly surprising: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has a reputation for passing
