Pensions
Briefing: Simplifying the state pension
There certainly seems to be something to be said for keeping an effective minister in the same post. After two years and eight months in the job, Steve Webb is… Continue reading
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Ministers hope pension reforms will calm concerns about stay-at-home mothers
Today’s pensions announcement contains an attempt by strategists to reassure those who worry that the government is abandoning the family. One of the gripes from the Tory backbenches about the… Continue reading
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Thatcher’s favourite think tank backs Danny Alexander
In the run-up to the Budget in March, Danny Alexander was pushing for the abolition of higher-rate relief on pension contributions, which would save the government £7 billion plus a… Continue reading
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George Osborne, balancing the budget on the backs of the rich
George Osborne has a dilemma to answer in his autumn statement (which must be finalised by 28 November, when it will be submitted to the Office of Budget Responsibility). He… Continue reading
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Ageing Britain needs more immigration
Some generalisations hold good. Young people, for instance, tend to be less hostile to immigration than their elders. This speaks well of their decency but also, as today’s report form… Continue reading
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The doctors’ strike
No public sector strike is easy to sell to the public. I recently did a stint of jury service and witnessed the chaos caused by court staff, members of the… Continue reading
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Metaphorical Merv
Mervyn King unfurled a mast of metaphors this morning. ‘We are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk of a storm heading our way from the continent,’ he said. ‘We… Continue reading
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Mervyn’s mini mea culpa
The newspapers and internet today are full of headlines about Mervyn King admitting the Bank of England was ‘late to the game’, and that central bankers should have ‘shouted from… Continue reading
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QE comes to the fore
It’s roughly seven months until George Osborne’s Autumn Statement, so no better time to consider which political issues will come to the boil ahead of it. Fuel costs, I’m sure,… Continue reading
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Previewing my Week in Westminster
I’m presenting Week in Westminster at 11am on Radio Four today, and get to choose four topics for discussion. My political nodes were, of course, amputated for the purposes of… Continue reading
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Another voice: Pensioners ought to contribute more
The pensioner lobby has been predictably and tiresomely strident about George Osborne’s ‘granny tax’. Ros Altmann, Director-General of Saga, called the move to bring pensioners’ tax allowances into line with… Continue reading
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Yes to new roads, no to a pensions raid
New roads in Britain are badly-needed, but who should bear the costs? Motorists, says David Cameron — and his speech today is a move in the right direction. No tolls… Continue reading
27 Comments
Right to reply: Why QE isn’t a disaster for pensioners
The best of all possible worlds for the pension industry is a buoyant economy. Workers have enough money to save, share prices rise and dividend growth is robust. Interest rates… Continue reading
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May’s quiet revolution
Do you remember the great parliamentary battle over privatisation of police services? Me neither, which is why Theresa May, the Home Secretary, is proving a better minister than Andrew Lansley,… Continue reading
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Unions hit government on pension changes
The coalition’s plan to leave the Public and Commercial Services Union isolated in its opposition to the proposed changes to public sector pensions has had several setbacks today. The Unite… Continue reading
27 CommentsAn early Christmas present for the coalition
It has only taken several months of bitter negotiation and a national strike to get here, but a deal between the unions and the government over public sector pensions could… Continue reading
18 CommentsIn the middle of the march
Walking through Parliament Square this afternoon, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether some kind of bomb threat had been made on Westminster Palace. The fleets of police vans and hoards… Continue reading
8 CommentsThe unions’ pension myths
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… Continue reading
30 CommentsWill the strikes exacerbate Cameron’s women problem?
We’ve already heard a lot about Dave’s problem with female voters. Melanie McDonagh wrote our cover piece on it in June, and in September there was that memo detailing Number… Continue reading
11 CommentsA day of disruption
Another testing day for the government, as we shift from the autumn statement to a national strike. It will certainly be more noticeable than the industrial action in June. Some… Continue reading
40 Comments