Ed Balls's housing plan could win Labour the election
Ed Balls has struck first in a battleground which will be crucial to the outcome of the next election. His conference speech promised 100,000 affordable homes, paid for using the windfall from the sale...
View ArticleThe Bank of England has just crossed the line into straight government financing
So now we know why the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee called a halt to more Quantitative Easing this week – it's because the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England have...
View ArticleBalls to another tax raid: hands off our pensions
Ed Balls’ proposal for yet another tax raid on pensions is horribly reminiscent of his former master and political inspiration, Gordon Brown. Mr Brown’s first major act as Chancellor in July, 1997, was...
View ArticleAnother Balls-up, but do the Tories offer any kind of an alternative?
I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of scrapping tax breaks on pension contributions, but proposals from Ed Balls, the shadow Chancellor, for targeting the pension perks enjoyed by higher rate...
View ArticleThe Conservatives can and should take Ed Balls' seat in 2015, so why won't...
In yesterday's Daily Mail, Andrew Pierce reported that the Conservatives have failed to attract any candidates to stand in Ed Balls's Morely and Outwood constituency. The seat is held by a majority of...
View ArticleEd Balls is a scoundrel – let’s give him the boot
Labour’s poisonous economic legacy is still the Conservatives’ most potent electoral weapon. Sitting MPs in marginal seats who designed and still support the policies that brought the public finances...
View ArticleThe death of the West? The bad news…
For every £1 which Labour added to the British economy between 2001 and 2009, we added £5.40 in debt (source below). I mention that because today's GDP number of -0.3pc is bad news, not only for the...
View ArticleIn the last three years inflation has eroded a decade of economic growth, and...
It's rough out there. Three years of inflation outstripping wage growth has seen real wages fall back to 2003 levels, the ONS announced this morning. Over the long term, we are back to square one with...
View ArticleMansion tax could boost 70,000 homeowners’ tax bills by £100,000 a year each
Mansion tax proposals by Labour could boost 70,000 homeowners’ tax bills by £100,000 a year each, accountants calculate. They also pointed out practical problems with Labour’s plan to use the extra...
View ArticleLatest GDP figures show growth is triumphing over fiscal austerity
The Chancellor would have performed a little jig when he learned of the first quarter GDP figures. With output up 0.3 per cent, Labour has been denied the prize of a triple dip recession. What is more,...
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