economy Articles

It is halftime. For Conservatives, the post mortem is already beginning: when the match started, they had all but written their opponents off. Without a natural centre-forward, lacking depth in crucial areas, and exposed on the right flank, they reasoned that 2012...

Michael Heseltine’s plan for economic growth, ‘No Stone Unturned’, is more use to Labour than to the Conservatives. An implicit indictment of government policy, it is profoundly at odds with ascendant rightwing Conservative thinking. With little of its recommendations...

The autumn statement this week revealed the full scale of the government’s economic failure: •    The prime minister promised to balance the books by 2015. He has broken that promise. •    The chancellor promised to cut borrowing – but borrowing and debt figures have...

The chancellor’s autumn statement demonstrated his economic credibility has fallen even lower. Yet it also demonstrated a political reality, which we need to appreciate fast. That is that so far at least he has got away with it. It is not enough for Labour to shout...