The Treasury and most commentators are mesmerized by UK state debt at 95.5% of GDP, the official figure which appears in the ONS monthly updates. They are right that by the standards of the last fifty years this is a high figure and reflects substanti… read more
Hidden away in the latest ONS official figures for the debt and deficit is a revealing number. The Bank of England’s bond portfolio bought under its Quantitative Easing programmes cost £112bn more to buy than the bonds will repay on maturity. As most… read more
Below you will find my latest article for Conservative Home: Rishi Sunak is a clever man with a good life story. I thought he was badly treated over his wife’s wealth and tax affairs. Jealousy is no part of Conservatism, where we welcome people of all… read more
One of the features of the OBR/Treasury model that works badly is the ability to forecast the all important public sector deficit or amount that the state needs to borrow each year. This is all important as the forecast drives tax policy. Whenever the… read more
There is renewed interest in productivity. The way to higher pay and better services is to work smarter. Applying new technology and more machine and digital power can help employees achieve more. Improving ways of working to make them easier with mo… read more