The quangos start to burn
The government has lit the touch paper to start the ‘bonfire of the quangos’ today in announcing that it will axe nearly 200 quangos, reports Katy Mughan.
Green Politics
Battle for the ‘squeezed middle’ rumbles on
Conservative commentators are beginning to sense the unease over Tory policy on the ‘squeezed middle’, reports Liam Thompson.
Labour market weakness continues – while help for long-term unemployed is cut
Today’s labour market statistics show that there should be real government concern about the direction that our labour market is taking, reports Nicols Smith.
‘Squeezed middle’ facing the “age of insecurity”
Southern voters abandoned Labour at the last election because the party failed to address their insecurities, new research by Policy Network reveals.
Gordon Brown: Action on climate change is “economic common sense”
Gordon Brown made a rare, unexpected and little noticed intervention on climate change over the weekend when he penned an article for the Huffington Post.
Mixed news from the trade front
The ONS trade stats show the UK’s deficit on trade in goods & services shrank from £5bn in July to £4.6bn in August as, though exports fell, imports fell more.
Banks get the begging bowl out for small business lending fund
A group of six of our most prominent high street banks have got the begging bowl out again and headed for the Treasury, reports Ben Fox.
60,000 green jobs under threat from Coalition cuts
A key fund directed at upgrading British ports for offshore wind is to be axed. It could lead to loss of around 60,000 green jobs at 3 major wind turbine factories.
Falling confidence hits housing market
Latest figures from the Halifax show house prices in the UK fell by 3.6 pc in September. The average UK house is now valued at £162,096 according to the bank.
Hutton’s pensions report: Much to welcome – but also much to fear
John Hutton’s report on public service pensions raises as many questions as it answers – his interim report is about the big picture, not the detail.