Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

Isabel Hardman

Budget 2016: The biggest problem with Jeremy Corbyn’s response was that it was delivered by Jeremy Corbyn

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/spectatorpolitics/georgeosbornesbudget-2016/media.mp3″ title=”Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss today’s budget”] Listen [/audioplayer]Jeremy Corbyn’s response to today’s Budget was fine on paper. It included a proper response to the policies that were announced, rather than the Labour leader merely ranting about what he had thought might be in the Budget when he wrote the

George Osborne’s 2016 Budget: full audio and text

Mr Deputy Speaker, Today I report on an economy set to grow faster than any other major advanced economy in the world. I report on a labour market delivering the highest employment in our history. And I report on a deficit down by two thirds, falling each year and – I can confirm today – on course for

Budget 2016: what it means for your personal finances

So, what did the Chancellor have up his sleeve? And how does it affect you and your money? Here is Spectator Money’s guide to the major changes. Income tax George Osborne stayed true to a Conservative pre-election pledge to increase the threshold for the higher rate of income tax. While reiterating that the goal is

Steerpike

Watch: George Osborne promises to ‘abolish’ the Liberal Democrats

Of course no Budget announcement would be complete without some customary ‘banter’ from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. With George Osborne’s leadership chances seen to be dwindling, he did his best to show that he had got his ‘mojo’ back. Clearly free of any guilty feelings over how things turned out for the Liberal Democrats in the General

Isabel Hardman

What to expect from today’s Budget

The art of delivering a good Budget – in a political sense at least – is to give everyone the impression that while you’ve had to do some really difficult things, you’ve miraculously managed to find some nice things to do too that will distract people for at least one round of newspaper front pages.

Ed West

High-rise housing is hellish. It’s time to bring back terraces

On the radio this morning the subject of high-rise housing was being discussed, the hook being the new film adaptation of JG Ballard’s High-Rise. Tower blocks are widely considered to be a disaster today; they took largely working-class populations out of often sub-standard (but potentially very nice) terraced houses into technically better housing that was

Budget 2016 – the key announcements

[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/spectatorpolitics/georgeosbornesbudget-2016/media.mp3″ title=”Fraser Nelson, Isabel Hardman and James Forsyth discuss today’s Budget”] Listen [/audioplayer] Sugar tax on drinks with over 8pc sugar from 2018. A tax on the poor. Chunky growth downgrades. This year, GDP to grow at 2.0pc (down from 2.4pc) next years at  2.2pc (down from 2.5pc) and at 2.1pc (down from 2.4pc) in 2018/19. Debt target

What will be in the 2016 Budget?

Fresh austerity measures, changes to income tax and the scrapping of a radical overhaul to the pensions system have dominated the headlines ahead of the 2016 Budget. But what money measures does the Chancellor have in store today? Here’s what to expect. Income tax One of the Conservatives’ pre-election pledges was an increase in the threshold for the higher rate

Jonathan Ray

St George’s Day tour and lunch at Chapel Down

Join us for an intimate and exclusive Spectator lunch at Chapel Down’s vineyards and winery in Kent. On your visit you will be accompanied by Chapel Down’s head winemaker, Josh Donaghay-Spire, and The Spectator’s drinks editor, Jonathan Ray. Chapel Down is England’s leading wine producer, offering a world-class range of sparkling and still wines, together

Osborne suffers from being the Microsoft to Cameron’s Apple

George Osborne’s battle to become Conservative leader may well be tougher than the battle he faces from the Labour opposition. The Chancellor delivers his eighth Budget tomorrow with only 31 percent of Britons believing he has done a good job as Chancellor. The backdrop for his set-piece speech is perhaps more troubling: only 26 percent say their

Steerpike

‘Brexit martyr’ John Longworth gets ready for his comeback

Last week John Longworth, the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, caused upset in the Remain camp when he used a BCC conference to claim that Britain could have a ‘brighter future’ outside the EU. With No.10 rumoured to have ‘bullied’ the BCC into disciplining him — an allegation they deny — Longworth was

Isabel Hardman

Meet Labour’s alternative shadow Treasury team

Jeremy Corbyn is preparing for his first response to a Budget since becoming Labour leader. The last time he spoke in a debate following an economic statement from the Chancellor was in 2012, when he complained about the ‘granny tax’, the benefit cap, proposals for regional pay, transport spending and Heathrow and housing. The MP

Isabel Hardman

Labour unease over Investigatory Powers Bill

The Investigatory Powers Bill has its second reading in the Commons this afternoon, with Labour planning to abstain and make its support for the timing of the legislation conditional on the Home Secretary satisfying a number of concerns that the party has. Separately, I understand that Tory MPs such as Liam Fox are pushing for

Money digest: today’s-need-to-know financial news

Ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, the financial pages are full of last ditch attempts by MPs, think tanks, businesses and pressure groups to persuade the Chancellor round to their way of thinking. On pensions, the Work and Pensions Select Committee has urged the government to consider giving some women early access to their state pension in return

Rod Liddle

Even the Germans are starting to despair of their country’s migrant policy

A rather impressive performance by Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany’s regional elections. Second in Saxony-Anhalt and double digit percentages in Baden-Württemberg and the Rhineland-Palatinate. Today’s papers have tended to conclude that despite AfD’s shock success, the elections were nonetheless a triumph, of sorts, for Angela Merkel’s policy towards migrants, if not for her party, the CDU. I

Meet the British Poles who back Brexit

Britain’s Poles appear to be struggling with a sort of Brexit-induced identity crisis. Earlier this month, BBC News showed Poles in Leeds expressing support for Brexit. I’m sure many people would have found this confusing. Aren’t a lot of these Poles in Britain thanks to an EU work permit and therefore benefitting directly from Britain’s

Don’t listen to Obama – real Americans want Brexit

Because Americans love Britain, and because we are a presumptuous lot, we often advise the United Kingdom on its foreign policy. And not only the UK, but Europe. Successive US administrations have urged European nations to form a United States of Europe as an answer to the question attributed to Henry Kissinger: ‘Who do I

Isabel Hardman

Boris vs Barack in the EU referendum campaign

As the EU referendum campaign wears on, the rules of engagement from both sides are becoming clearer – or at least the rules that both sides would like to use for engagement. The Inners are in favour, unsurprisingly, of throwing everything they can at the campaign to keep Britain in the EU. The Outers are