Treasury
The chancellor survived the IMF report, but there’s another challenge ahead
George Osborne has got through the IMF’s report on the UK economy. It is far from a ringing endorsement of his approach but, as Isabel notes, its criticisms are couched… Continue reading
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Two versions of Osborne’s benefits speech
The Times’ Sam Coates picked up on a couple of discrepancies between the text of George Osborne’s Morrisons speech sent out by CCHQ, and the one published by the Treasury.… Continue reading
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Why Britain lost its AAA rating
Even the pessimistic analysts had given Britain until September to lose its AAA rating. That it has happened now, before the Budget, shows just how fast things are moving. Moody’s… Continue reading
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Mr Micawber Goes to the Treasury
John Rentoul draws attention to a new ComRes poll that goes some way towards explaining George Osborne’s predicament when it comes to managing government finances. Put simply, the public is… Continue reading
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Mark Carney: I want a debate on inflation target
If Mark Carney had any reservations about his move to Threadneedle Street later this year, he might now add to his list regular sessions with the Treasury Select Committee. His… Continue reading
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Prime Minister and Chancellor ‘stayed submerged’ on bankers’ bonuses
The irrepressible Lord Oakeshott is making mischief again: he’s using Sir Mervyn King’s comments about Goldman Sachs bonuses today to attack David Cameron and George Osborne. He’s just told Coffee… Continue reading
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We’ve shown forecasts are unreliable, jokes OBR chief
‘We’ve done quite a good job at demonstrating the limitations of economic forecasting,’ half-joked Office for Budget Responsibility Chairman Robert Chote at the start of his Treasury Select Committee appearance… Continue reading
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Comings and goings at Number 11 Downing Street
Few politicians have put as much thought in to the team around them as George Osborne. He is a collector of talented people. Unlike most Tories, he has gone outside… Continue reading
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Will Osborne have the luck of the Irish with his 4G auction?
Could George Osborne be in line for a genuine windfall? The Chancellor is getting quite good at conjuring fake ones (Post Office pensions, raiding £35 billion from the Bank of… Continue reading
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Briefing: Another fuel duty freeze?
It looks like George Osborne will put the planned fuel duty rise on hold again, in order to avoid another Tory rebellion and potential government defeat in the Commons. This… Continue reading
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Burstow goes rogue to attack Treasury
Hell hath no fury like a government minister sacked (as proven by our anonymous ‘Dumped by Dave’ piece this week). Another former minister, Paul Burstow, lost his job because Nick… Continue reading
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Lib Dems play whac-a-mole on welfare cuts
The Liberal Democrats are playing a game of whac-a-mole on welfare at the moment: each time they think they’ve blocked one cut they don’t like, another one pops up. Last… Continue reading
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Iain Duncan Smith versus Jeremy Heywood
There’s war in Whitehall. The Sunday Times devotes its p2 lead (£) to the fact that Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary, is ‘sceptical’ of the Universal Credit, the key to Iain… Continue reading
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Why George Osborne will miss his debt target
Much is being made today of reports that George Osborne will drop his fiscal target in his autumn statement on 5 December. Isabel reported earlier that, faced with breaking his… Continue reading
32 CommentsI Think Paul Krugman is Mistaken - Spectator Blogs
The great sage – once described to me by someone who attended a (highly) derivative speech he made on the Scottish economy as Woody Allen with statistics and no jokes… Continue reading
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Treasury: We did not leak the Budget
It’s easy to forget that the Budget took place five long months ago when it is still being unpicked and argued over now. The Treasury Select Committee published the responses… Continue reading
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Who will rid us of this turbulent Treasury? - Spectator Blogs
In Michael Lewis’s The Big Short, one of the few Wall Street analysts to bet against the US housing market explains his decision to short Merrill Lynch: We have a… Continue reading
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The post-GDP sleeve-rolling begins
David Cameron is using the Olympics today to strike a more upbeat tone after yesterday’s GDP gloom. The Prime Minister is speaking at 10am at a global investment conference to… Continue reading
20 CommentsWho Will Rid Cameron of His Part-Time Chancellor?
I commend Fraser’s most recent post on our part-time Chancellor of the Exchequer. But even my flabber was gasted (or my gast flabbered) by this paragraph: Being Chancellor in a… Continue reading
9 CommentsGeorge Osborne, Poker Player
May God protect me from my friends. That, I suggest, should be George Osborne’s reaction to Ben Brogan’s Telegraph column this morning. As best I can tell, it’s supposed to… Continue reading
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