The Climate Change Committee, a quango set up to advise the Government on its emissions targets, make a big claim in their report today. They have, they suggest, disproved the argument that climate policy is set to drive substantial increases in energy bills by 2020. They say that ‘policies to achieve a low-carbon economy will
This morning the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) told us that the climate summit in Durban, which concluded over the weekend, has been ‘heralded a success’. As they say, the ‘talks resulted in a decision to adopt the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol next year in return for a roadmap to
Will Durban break the cycle of climate change meetings that repeatedly disappoint those hoping to replace Kyoto with an upgraded model? With so much else on, most people seem to be ignoring the latest summit entirely. Scanning the major newspaper websites, only the Guardian and the Independent mention “Durban” on their homepages. First Copenhagen
This morning I debated the President of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers live on Sky News. It was incredible how few answers she had when confronted with the facts about the strike. According to research at the Office for National Statistics, public sector workers are paid 7.8 per cent more than those in the
Next week, millions of public sector workers will go on strike over proposed changes to their pensions. And yet, even after the reforms, those pensions will still be far more generous than most taxpayers working in the private sector — who will pick up the bill — can expect. It’s going to be hard to
After the Conservative Party Conference, Fraser described this statement in George Osborne’s speech as the Osborne Doctrine: ‘Let’s at the very least resolve that we’re going to cut our carbon emissions no slower but also no faster than our fellow countries in Europe.’ The Government’s current climate policy clearly fails that test, as I set
Back in June 2008, when Gordon Brown’s government was young but already so weak it looked like it might not last, James Foryth wrote about one positive legacy it might leave. The Union Flag all around Whitehall on the top of public buildings. Whether you saw that cynically as an attempt by a Scotsman to
Open yesterday’s or this morning’s papers, and you’ll find plenty of reports about the snouts of FTSE100 chief execs being in the trough again, while the rest of us suffer. Their pay is up 49 per cent, we read. Most people’s first and only response to these accounts of the Incomes Data Services’ (IDS) latest
Yet another HMRC scandal this week, as a new HMRC computer discovered millions who have paid too much or too little in tax. A letter from the tax man will land on their doorstep in the next few months. Some will enjoy the dubious pleasure of getting money back that should never have been taken
George Osborne told a Conservative Party increasingly wary of expensive climate policies that Britain needs to “cut [its] carbon emissions no slower but also no faster than our fellow countries in Europe. That’s what I’ve insisted on in the recent carbon budget.” What he actually insisted on was what Chris Huhne described as “a review
Today we got the black comedy follow up to Sarah Teather’s stand-up routine. Chris Huhne is going to drive down our energy bills! For those of us wondering how families and businesses can afford his expensive climate policies, it is a bit of a joke. The basic issue – as I set out in the
After a Spectator debate on climate change in March, Fraser Nelson wrote about whether or not we should try to engage in the debate ourselves or “trust the expert”. Simon Singh had argued in the debate that the most credible experts supported the view that the human contribution to potential global warming was real and serious. The
Earlier this week, Jonathan Jones reported on the problems facing the government on international development spending. Their plan to increase the DFID budget is deeply unpopular. Today we’ve released a new YouGov poll that sheds a lot more light on the situation, and suggests a way out whereby the government can still fund their most
Yesterday the campaign for high-speed rail, endorsed by the Government, made clear the way they want to frame the debate over the new line. They want to make it about Northerners vs. Southerners. Their adverts featuring a bowler-hatted caricature putting the integrity of his lawn above jobs in the North went up on buses in Manchester. By
“I am announcing today that the Government will consult on merging the operation of National Insurance and Income Tax.” The word ‘consultation’ in the Budget drew the longest, loudest sigh from me. Some commentators had hinted that Osborne was considering merging Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NICs), which would be a fantastic move towards
The government release a claim that HS2 will bring 40,000 new jobs. They are so desperate to let the public know that figure they breach proper practice by briefing it ahead of the publication of the consultation document. When the consultation document comes out, I will look at whether creating that number of jobs is
Under a week ago, when James Forsyth wrote about how the government was successfully mobilising third party groups to support high-speed rail, it looked like Philip Hammond was going to get the neat debate he wanted. The script was simple: the new high speed line was urgently needed and in the national interest, a small
It’s that time of year again, time for the world to pay attention to climate change policy for a few weeks. Most of the year, schemes like the EU Emissions Trading System and the Renewables Obligation just wallow in dysfunction and quietly cost us a fortune, adding to our electricity bills in particular. Manufacturers pay
Everyone is talking about the royal wedding today. It will be a great occasion but the public finances are tight and people are already asking about the cost. There is a bigger issue for British taxpayers, though. Our politicians have arranged for them to get hitched to the bride from hell: the ongoing fiscal disaster
At the Comprehensive Spending Review tomorrow, we will get a much clearer picture of how the Government plans to manage spending cuts. There are a few things we already know, though: 1) The overall cuts will be modest. As Fraser has pointed out, the overall cut in spending is small. Spending is going down to
