Kate Andrews is economics editor of The Spectator
The government has been claiming since the start of the year that it’s on a mission to ‘halve inflation’ – despite having virtually no control in this area. Still, this week Rishi Sunak ramped up the narrative when the latest set of data showed the headline rate falling from 10.1 per cent on the year in March
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James Heale speaks to Fraser Nelson and Kate Andrews about the news that borrowing costs are back to being the highest since last Autumn. What could this mean for the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt?
It’s three years since the UK formally left the European Union and cut off free movement, and net migration has reached a record high: 606,000 in 2022. This total (measured by the number of new arrivals, minus people emigrating from the UK) is 118,000 higher than last year. This is certainly an increase from 2021,
The government is delighted with today’s inflation update. Rishi Sunak released a clip this afternoon, talking about his government’s efforts to ‘halve inflation’ by the end of the year. ‘I know it’s still tough’ he says, but ‘the plan is working, and we are delivering.’ The problem is that it is not in his gift
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Isabel Hardman speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews about the ongoing case of Suella Braverman’s speeding saga. And now Boris Johnson has returned to the spotlight over reports he broke more lockdown rules. Does the energy around these stories say something about the culture of Westminster? Also on the podcast, Kate Andrews takes a
Since the start of the year, politicians and central bankers have been promising a collapse in the inflation rate. But monthly data kept rolling in, and the rate remained in double digits. This put even more pressure on the data this morning, published by the Office for National Statistics, with the Bank of England (BoE)
We learned this morning just how much the government is struggling to keep its promise to bring down the national debt. But news from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be lifting spirits in No. 10. Perhaps it can make good on another pledge: to grow the economy. The IMF has once again revised its figures for
All eyes are on tomorrow’s inflation rate figures, which need to start falling fast for Rishi Sunak to make good on his pledge to ‘halve inflation’ by the end of the year. But this morning we got an update on the one pledge from No.10 that was never likely to be made good on: the
The Grand Hotel sits on the outskirts of Taipei, at the edge of Yangmingshan national park. Overlooking the city, the 14-storey building is designed like a Chinese palace. It was built in the 1950s to host dignitaries when Taiwan was under authoritarian rule. Today it operates as a five-star hotel and is open to tours
When Rishi Sunak delivered his five key pledges at the start of January, the latest data we had for the inflation rate was for last November. It was up 10.7 per cent on the year, having fallen from a peak of 11.1 per cent the month before. Everyone thought this was the start of a fast and
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The UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Jeremy Hunt said that the government needed to ‘stay focused on competitive taxes, labour supply and productivity.’ Is that enough to improve growth? Natasha Feroze speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
The UK economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in March, as ongoing strike action continued to take its toll. But the fall wasn’t enough to push the UK into recession territory, as the Office for National Statistics announced this morning that the economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the first three months of the year. This was thanks
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Will Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, lose her supporters in the ERG, after the government confirmed that it would be going back on its pledge to remove all EU legislation from UK law by the end of 2023? James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Kate Andrews.
The Bank of England has hiked interest rates again, taking the base rate from 4.25 per cent to 4.5 per cent. This is the 12th consecutive rise, voted for 7-2 by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It takes rates to their highest level since 2008. The Bank had hoped it could stop raising interest
Will the Bank of England raise interest rates again? We’ll know for sure next Thursday, when we get the Monetary Policy Committee’s next announcement on the base rate, but today’s decision from the Federal Reserve to hike rates again makes it more likely that the Bank will follow suit. The Fed has announced another interest rate
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In today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer accused the Prime Minister and his party of having ‘killed the dream of homeownership’. With news this week that Rishi Sunak is considering reintroducing ‘Help to Buy’ while Michael Gove is sued for blocking a new housing development in Kent, does Starmer actually have a point? Katy Balls
It’s hard to imagine the housing crisis getting much worse. But according to the front page of today’s Times, the prospect of buying one’s first home may get pushed even further out of reach. According to the newspaper, officials in No.10 and the Treasury are working on plans to revive ‘Help to Buy’. This was
The four-times delayed gambling white paper has finally surfaced – and it’s another win for nanny state enthusiasts. The paper is set to usher in huge breaches in privacy at a relatively low threshold. The overhaul of gambling legislation will be centred around ‘financial vulnerability checks’ as highlighted by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer in the Times today:
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Prime Minister’s Questions was a punchy affair today. Rishi Sunak fought back against accusations that the Conservatives have failed on tackling crime, calling Keir Starmer ‘Sir Softy’ to turn the attack back around on Starmer, for his track record as the Director of Public Prosecutions. But was it an effective attack? Cindy Yu talks to
The rate of inflation has come down, barely. This morning’s update from the Office for National Statistics shows inflation fell to 10.1 per cent on the year in March, down from 10.4 per cent in February. The rate remains in the double digits, where it has hovered since September 2022. Today’s update takes the rate back down