The OECD’s growth downgrade is yet another headache for Reeves
In more bad news for Rachel Reeves as the Chancellor prepares for next week’s Spring Statement, the OECD has downgraded…
The economy is shrinking. Rachel Reeves must act
The economy shrank by 0.1 per cent in January according to figures just published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The…
Who’s doing well out of the Trump slump?
Markets are not enjoying Donald Trump’s tariffs. Some 125 days have passed since his second election victory and the S&P…
Will Trump cause a recession?
Donald Trump has refused to rule out an American recession. He ‘hates to predict things like this’, he said yesterday.…
McSpaff: Scotland is the worst when it comes to government waste
No country in the UK receives more public money per head than Scotland. An extra £2,200 is spent on every…
Labour is finally waking up to the benefits crisis
The welfare bill currently unsustainably stands at £314 billion. It is forecast to reach nearly £380 billion by the end…
Trump announces 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico
‘He was bad on trade, very bad on trade,’ said Donald Trump ‘with due respect’ to Ronald Reagan in a…
The problem of Britain’s idle generation
The number of young people not doing anything with their lives has hit its highest level in 11 years. Figures…
The energy price cap rise heaps more misery on Brits
Average gas and electricity bills will rise by £111 a year in April after the regulator Ofgem announced an increase…
Is Britain funding organisations that wish us harm?
Frivolous state funding isn’t only going to chancers, the plain lucky and the devious, but also to those who would…
Has Rachel Reeves broken her fiscal rules?
Rachel Reeves is having to borrow more money than even the worst estimates expected. Figures on the public finances, published…
Strong pay growth will alarm the Bank of England
Britain’s workers have experienced strong pay increases for the third month in a row. Figures on the jobs market, just…
Introducing Spaff: The Spectator Project Against Frivolous Funding
All too often, the Prime Minister recently lamented, Britain’s public servants are happy languishing in the ‘tepid bath of managed…
Reform tops Spectator poll tracker
Nigel Farage’s Reform party are now out in front at the top of The Spectator data hub’s poll tracker. The latest update…
Record Channel crossings expose Starmer’s failure to ‘smash the gangs’
More migrants have illegally crossed the English Channel since 1 January than in any previous year for this period. So…
Gossip is good for you… so I’m told
The Pope hates gossip. In his Christmas message to his Vatican advisers last year, Francis warned that it is ‘an…
Is the UK prepared to welcome one million migrants a year?
One million people will migrate to the UK every year this decade. The result: the UK population will grow by…
How to outsmart DeepSeek
For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has censored Winnie the Pooh, owing to internet memes comparing the slightly…
Will Chinese AI get the Treasury off the hook?
The launch of the Chinese chatbot DeepSeek has caused turmoil in the markets. The release of China’s newest AI –…
Revealed: GPs are over-diagnosing mental health conditions
Britain is turning sadness into sickness. More than four in five GPs believe that the ups and downs of normal life…
Employment suffers largest fall since pandemic
Rachel Reeve’s £25 billion National Insurance rise is beginning to bite. According to the latest data on our labour market,…
Is public sector headcount out of control?
Eyebrows were raised in the House of Lords this week as the Justice and Home Affairs Committee heard evidence that…
Luke Littler’s bland entourage
Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler, born two weeks after the first iPhone was unveiled, stormed the Professional Darts Corporation world championships…
Why Britain’s benefits problem is likely to get worse
More than half of Britons receive more from the state than they pay in taxes, according to figures from the…
The many faces of pigs in blankets
There are not many phrases that offend me more than ‘pigs in blankets’. The correct name for this dish is,…
