With little expected today from the chancellor that will make things any easier for those all important ‘hardworking people’, this will be an Autumn Statement that passes most people by.
Previous attempts by Labour at capping the cost of payday loans have been defeated in the Commons by…the Tories; with the aid of their Lib Dems partners, of course.
The most remarkable thing about this morning’s coverage of the quarterely GDP figures is how lightly George Osborne is getting off.
Just who benefits from the freeze on fuel duty announced by chancellor George Osborne today?
Those targeted by a new workfare scheme to be announced by chancellor George Osborne today make up just 5 per cent of JSA claims and 2.5 per cent of the benefits bill.
George Osborne’s declaration that his economic policy is “working” will have come as something of a shock to millions of families up and down the country.
Yesterday was probably a good day to bury bad news. It was also very probably an opportune moment to promote a bad policy in the hope that it would slip under the radar of those with critical voices.
Today George Osborne more than halved the amount of tax the UK’s nascent shale gas industry will need to pay, from 62 per cent to 30 per cent.
The Scottish National Party has declared that “Westminster isn’t working” as it has unearthed evidence showing the poorest 20 per cent will be worse of as a result of the spending review when compared with the budget in March.
Everyone knew there would be very little money to spare in Wednesday’s Spending Review and Thursday’s ‘Growth Statement’. The slow recovery of the national economy has put paid to any attempts to move away from ‘austerity’, so departmental cuts of up to 10 per cent came as no surprise.
