Michael Simmons

Michael Simmons

Michael Simmons is The Spectator's economics editor

Keir’s Indian Summer

The UK has finally signed a free-trade deal with India after three-and-a-half years of negotiation. The agreement will open up trade for cars, whisky, clothing and food products, with ministers claiming it will boost the British economy by £4.8 billion. For Keir Starmer, it offers much-needed economic and political good news. For Indian prime minister

How to write a political sketch – with Madeline Grant

10 min listen

As MPs depart Westminster for parliamentary recess, The Spectator’s political sketch writer Madeline Grant joins Natasha Feroze and economics editor Michael Simmons to talk about how to sketch PMQs and why Keir Starmer makes for the best sketches. Also on the podcast, Michael Simmons looks at the promising FTSE at record high following Trump’s trade

Britain is broke

Britain is continuing to chuck billions onto our mounting pile of debt. Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that last month the state had to borrow just under £21 billion. That was £6.6 billion more than in June last year and the second-highest June borrowing total since records began 32 years ago.

Why Reeves should sell her bitcoin hoards

Deep fried prawn balls, chicken chow mein, crispy shredded beef and a Ponzi scheme could be about to win the Chancellor a decent chunk of her headroom back. If Reeves does press ‘sell’, she will be accused of ‘pulling a Gordon Brown’ As Rachel Reeves starts sketching out her autumn Budget, most of the focus

Michael Simmons

Broke Britain: how the Bank of England wrecked the economy

In February 2020, a few weeks before Britain was thrown into lockdown, Sajid Javid resigned as chancellor of the exchequer over a bust-up with the prime minister’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings. The fight was thought to be over Cummings’s attempts to dictate who could and could not work in No. 11. In fact, it was

Mel Stride: ‘what I would do differently’

12 min listen

Last night, Rachel Reeves was the headline act at the Mansion House dinner. In her speech, she made the case that ‘Britain is open for business’ and that we must ‘stay competitive in the global economy’. Critics would say it is hard to claim to be open for business while having also overseen a £25

No, Rachel Reeves: Britain doesn’t look ‘open for business’

Rachel Reeves wants Britain to become a shareholder democracy. In her annual Mansion House speech to the City’s bankers, accountants and financial advisors, she said ‘for too long, we have presented investment in too negative a light’. She’s right. These changes are unlikely to unleash the ‘big bang’ of prosperity and tax revenues the Chancellor

Are you a ‘working person’?

10 min listen

Tomorrow Rachel Reeves will deliver her big speech in the City. The annual Mansion House address is a chance for the Chancellor to set out her vision for the British economy. But amid a gloomy set of economic indicators (including two consecutive monthly GDP contractions) it is difficult to see what good news she can

Amanda Spielman on the SEND row and Labour’s Ofsted blind spot

22 min listen

As Labour looks to get a grip on public spending, one rebellion gives way to another with the changes to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system threatening to become welfare round two.  On this week’s Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn is joined by The Spectator’s Michael Simmons and former Ofsted

Sacré bleu! We have a migration deal with France

15 min listen

On today’s podcast: sacré bleu – we have a one-in, one-out migration deal with France. In a press conference yesterday, Keir Starmer and President Macron announced a deal they hope will curb Channel crossings. But, as ever, the devil is in the detail, with some key concerns about the numbers and the time frame. Digital

Michael Simmons

Tax rises are inevitable

The string of bleak economic updates continues. First we had the dire report by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) into fiscal risks, which showed how we’re hurtling towards financial disaster. Now we’ve got figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that reveal the economy shrank in May – the second month in a

Badenoch is right: the benefits bill could cripple Britain

‘We are becoming a welfare state with an economy attached,’ said Kemi Badenoch in a speech on sickness benefits today. She’s right, though anyone who read the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) dire report this week knows we’re past becoming: we already are. The figures are staggering. The bill for sickness benefits is heading towards £100

Wes Streeting is right to take on the doctors

The public won’t forgive and nor will I, said Health Secretary Wes Streeting of plans by junior doctors to strike over his refusal to cave to demands for 29 per cent pay rises. Speaking to the Times he said: ‘There are no grounds for strike action now. Resident doctors have just received the highest pay award across the

Britain is heading for economic catastrophe

Britain is in trouble. That’s the judgement of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in their ‘fiscal risks and sustainability’ document released this morning. The language is polite, matter of fact and bureaucratic. But read between the lines, look at the numbers and it paints a damning picture of the risks we face as a country.

Keir can’t catch a break

13 min listen

Keir Starmer will have been hoping for a more relaxed week – but he certainly won’t be getting one. He is facing a fresh rebellion over support for children with special educational needs (SEND), which threatens to become welfare 2.0. The plan involves overhauling the SEND system and it’s another case of Labour MPs exclaiming

Corbyn is back! … or is he?

13 min listen

Some sore heads on Coffee House Shots this morning, after last night’s Spectator summer party. But while we were having fun, a drama was brewing in the Labour party after it was finally confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn is starting a new left-wing party… or is he? The news was broken last night by another MP:

Michael Simmons

How the Home Office created the Boriswave

The Home Office opened Britain’s doors to record numbers of migrants without properly assessing the risks or consequences, according to a damning new report from parliament’s Public Accounts Committee. The report, released overnight, finds that the department ‘made changes to the Skilled Worker Visa route without a full assessment of the risks or potential impacts,