Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
Why won’t the banks pass on the rate cut? Because there isn’t anything to pass on. And for the life of me, I can’t work out why they don’t point this out. The Bank of England base rate simply doesn’t mean the Bank of England is lending to banks at 2 percent. The plumping doesn’t
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How much should we worry about a falling pound? Since Monday sterling is off 5 percent against the Euro, 6.5 percent against the dollar, 9 percent against the Yen and 3.4 percent against the Hungarian forint: Hungary, of course, had to be bailed out by the IMF. This is worrying for the government as its
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After the rate cut, one question presents itself: is the British economy turning Japanese? Now rates are at 2%, it makes you wonder how low they can go and whether we are approaching a zero-rate like Japan after its economy blew up in 1990, leading to the “lost decade”? To answer it, let’s get a
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So it was all Jill Pay’s fault. That was Michael Martin’s verdict. He didn’t know. The Serjeant At Arms should have asked for a warrant and she didn’t. Nor did he shrink from dumping on her. He’ll grant a debate on Monday and set up a committee of grandees (just as he did with the
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I do feel for Her Majesty. This ordeal should be foisted on her only after an election. Having to read out the New Labour newspeak was bad enough, but the Brownian argot is dreadful. I do love the way she did it without any feeling – with a wearisome look in her eye – and
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Those of us in favour of “fiscal autonomy” for Scotland have been sent homewards to think again by the Calman Commission (pdf, here), which looks at the asymmetrical mess which calls itself devolution. But it’s not all bad news. It had been expected to dump on the idea, but is fairly clear about the need to
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School reform is by some margin the best Conservative policy, but could it be better still? The Independent today runs a piece in which Michael Gove is told he’s making a “terrific mistake” by refusing to allow his proposed independent schools to make a profit. The comments come from Mikael Sandstrom, a state secretary (or
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I’ve just picked up The Hugo Young Papers – his notes from his meetings with the great and the good. It’s a lively read, if you skip the bits about Europe (well, the bit where Ed Balls stresses his impeccable Europhile credentials is fun), and you see a fascinating glimpse of what Brown says in private conversation. And
From our UK edition
You don’t need a cat-stroking authoritarian to damage democracy and erode liberties. You just need to sit back and talk as if the system is a law unto itself. I believe Gordon Brown is being honest when he denies knowledge of the Damian Green arrest. No10 knows there will be an inquiry, and it will
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Conservative backbenchers were in good voice on Monday, and by prearrangement. The whips had sent around the message that there was to be raucous heckling as Alistair Darling read out what used to be called the Autumn Statement. Duly, there were roars of indignation at the Chancellor’s claims that Britain was best-prepared for a downturn,
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Word is that Michael Martin has hit the roof today. He was informed about the Sergeant-At-Arms’ (deplorable) decision to let anti-terror police forage through Damian Green’s office (I gather they’re still happily at work stripping his constituency office bare). As Speaker, he had to be informed but did not have to give his permission. The
From our UK edition
And Damian Green is suspected of what, exactly? I just spoke to Steve Moxon, who was a whistleblower in the Home Office and sacked for leaking stories. As you can imagine, he knows more about the legalities of all this than most. When he was rumbled, he said, he was safe under the Public Interest
From our UK edition
So what did Damian Green leak that has warranted his arrest? From what I can gather, here are the three of the stories in this case. The links are not necessarily to the papers who broke the stories. The topics are not just immigration, as I had earlier thought. But they are all in the
From our UK edition
We can now give you that Tory story. Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, has for some time had a whistleblower in the Home Office, which resulted in four stories ending up in the newspapers. And for this, at 12.50 today he was arrested – but not charged. On suspicion of what, you might ask? “Suspicion
From our UK edition
When Gordon Brown has nightmares, what does he see? I suspect it’s something pretty close to Ken Cox’s brilliant cartoon to accompany my cover piece in this week’s Spectator. It shows Cameron and Osborne in their Bullingdon Club outfits jostling Brown, taking a leg each, until borrowed cash is falling out of his pockets. Like
From our UK edition
Can someone please tell Angela Merkel that the world is behind Gordon Brown in a great consensus? Because the German Chancellor seems to have forgotten. After rejecting Brown’s casino approach to public finance (borrow like mad, and encourage the public to do the same, then hail yourself as an economic genius), Germany has two things
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Can David Cameron make national debt into a campaign issue? He tried in PMQs today asking if Brown can confirm he’s doubled the debt to £1 trillion. Problem is: few knew “trillion” was a real word until recently. When Brown decided not to have a payback plan he figured no one would really care. It’s
From our UK edition
Gordon Brown is hoping that the sheer size of the borrowing numbers that Alistair Darling announced on Monday will stop people from comprehending them. But we hope that this video—adapted from the brilliant one that won MoveOn’s competition to design an ad against Bush in 2004— will bring home the consequences of this debt. On
From our UK edition
A devastating blow against Brown’s “tax the rich” plan from the Institue of Fiscal Studies today. How much will the new 45 percent tax rate for those over £170,000 raise? “Approximately nothing” says the IFS and adds that “HM Treasury would raise more with, eg, a 44 percent rate”. This reminds us why most developed
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The IFS post budget briefing is becoming as anticipated by the media as the budget itself, and I’m sitting at the back with the crowds. The IFS spotted the 5 million losers from the abolition of the 10p tax band which Brown claims to have only noticed afterwards. So what do they see this time?