Left Foot Forward
Poll worry for coalition as pain of cuts begins to dawn
Labour leads the Tories in the Times/Populus poll series for the first time in three years in the wake of the comprehensive spending review as voters begin to realise the full scale of the coalition's cuts agenda. Ed Miliband's party are up one point on 38 per cent, with the Conservatives down two points on 37 per cent and the Liberal Democrats up one point on 15 per cent.
Cable is wrong: Working families will be worse off after tax credit changes
While recent announcements have led to increases in the child element, they have also led to significant cuts in the basic element, 30 hour element and childcare elements as well increasing the rate at which tax credit awards fall in relation to rising household incomes. In contrast to the business secretary’s claim, the reality for many working families (particularly those with childcare costs) is therefore that the total impact of these changes means they will receive far less now than they would do if current policy remained in place.
Clegg’s fave tune: Life on Mars – a barren, inhospitable world…
Nick Clegg appeared on Desert Island Discs this morning, putting the worries of the world to one side and revealing his favourite tunes, reports Shamik Das.
CSR could herald the slow death of affordable housing
The Comprehensive Spending Review, followed up by a letter from the Minister for Housing to local authorities, together herald the near collapse of affordable housing policy in the UK. For the most expensive parts of the country like London, they could herald the slow death of affordable housing altogether.
Look Left – Britain is a “colder, crueller country”
This week the government unveiled the biggest cuts to public spending in decades. The regressive, unfair cuts (source: IFS), will lead to 500,000 job losses, with services up and down the country severely cut or axed completely. Johann Hari, in The Independent, described Britain as a "colder, crueller country" in the wake of the cuts.
Local councils amongst biggest losers from CSR
One of the biggest losers from the Comprehensive Spending Review was local government, though the full scale of the cuts will not emerge till December.