China is hitting back with even more tariffs
China has retaliated against Donald Trump by raising duties on all American imports to 125 per cent from 84 per…
Xi escalates China’s trade war with Trump
China has announced it will impose 84 per cent tariffs on US goods imports from tomorrow, as the war of…
Are Reeves’s fiscal rules really ‘ironclad’?
This afternoon, Keir Starmer recommitted to not raising income tax, VAT or employee National Insurance for the duration of this…
Is Trump stoking a global recession?
This week, Donald Trump steered the global economy away from the free trade era that has underpinned growth for decades.…
This could be the largest US tax rise in half a century
Across the world, markets are plunging as they respond to the global tariffs Donald Trump unleashed from the White House…
Trump prepares to take his tariff war global
In just a few hours, Donald Trump is set to take his tariff war global. At 9 p.m. UK time…
Can we trust our economic data anymore?
Britain’s economic outlook may have been skewed by bad data – and it could be costing billions. Wage data pored…
Britain narrowly escapes recession – again
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just confirmed that the economy ‘grew’ by 0.1 per cent in the last…
Are tax hikes on the horizon?
Tax rises are almost certainly coming, Britain’s leading fiscal think tank has said. Those taxes are most likely to fall…
The five bombshells in the OBR’s economic outlook
There is perhaps no document more useful for understanding the state of the nation than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s…
Reeves’s Spring Statement was written for the OBR
Rachel Reeves didn’t want today’s Spring Statement to be seen as a budget, but a budget it has turned out…
Is Reeves brave enough to give the economy the medicine it needs?
Rachel Reeves has wanted to downplay the significance of the Spring Statement this afternoon. But with every leaked proposal and…
The Spectator reflects on Covid five years on
Five years ago this weekend, the nation was plunged into what was expected to be a three-week lockdown. Weeks turned…
Britain’s borrowing is out of control
Rachel Reeves is having to borrow more and more money to keep Britain’s show on the road. Figures on the…
Bank holds interest rate over inflation fears
The Bank of England has held interest rates at 4.5 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted eight to…
Public sector employment hits a record high
The state is bigger than ever. The number of workers employed in central government has hit 4 million for the…
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…
