They Blog For You

For the third time in a row – Greece, Ireland and now Portugal – the continuing Eurozone crisis is being handled badly.   A Portuguese bail-out will shortly be arranged among the EU countries, but in practice dominated by the conditions laid down by the most powerful country, Germany.   This [...]

I am told that there is a new welcome emphasis on the public’s views at Downing Street. They are taking polling more seriously. It was worries by the public about the Health reforms that lies behind the recent decision to consult again and if necessary to change the plans. I trust [...]

Greece, Ireland, now Portugal ....  Another bailout of the Euro dressed up as a rescue.  Another high interest loan pressed upon European taxpayers, as if that might solve the problem of excessive debt. Over the past year, we have been struggling to save a total of [...]

The internal contradictions in Osborne’s economic policy multiply.   Before the election he complained quite rightly that the nation’s private debt was far too high – in the bubble years it reached £1.35 trillion, only slightly less than the nation’s entire GDP which was £1.45 trillion.   It is now £1.56 trillion, [...]

                    This week-end has seen numerous briefings against the Health Secretary. I have found him to be one of  the best informed, and  most accessible of Cabinet Ministers. He knows his brief well, is aware of the problems of piloting through change to the NHS, and has already secured the [...]

               Readers will know I am against the UK lending any money to Euro member states in trouble. We kept out of the Euro thanks to some of us arguing that case. Some of us  forecast the likely problems and do not see why the UK should pick up any of [...]

It’s worrying that Ed Miliband in launching Labour’s local election campaign seemed so defensive and uncertain about his economic case, when it is actually very powerful.   Economic growth by itself, on the Government’s own forecasts, will halve this year’s Budget deficit within 5 years without a single public expenditure cut [...]

You're no doubt sick of me going on about the Budget now, but I did want to draw attention to a small victory. Last Wednesday, the Chancellor announced that he would not abolish Community Investment Tax Relief, despite being advised by the Office of Tax Simplification to scrap it. I [...]

It is astonishing that the banks, having cost the country £68bn in bailouts plus an additional £850bn in loan guarantees, asset protection schemes and enhanced liquidity, have not been reformed in any way in structure, pay, bonuses or lending.   True, the Vickers Commission is due to report later this year and [...]

Having come down from my Oldham constituency this morning, I joined the march in ‘Whitehall at at 1.15pm, about an hour and a half after the vanguard had begun the march to Hyde Park.   After hearing the speeches I returned along Piccadilly where people were still marching towards Hyde Park [...]

                    The Portuguese government has fallen because it was unable to push through yet another austerity package. The  bond market demands ever higher interest rates to lend money to the ailing country. The economy remains mired in poor performance. Now all the talk is of another EU led bail out. [...]

Two sound bites will come back to haunt Osborne: a budget for growth and “this is the greenest government ever”.   All the evidence points to its being a budget for decline.   The economy was recovering well just before the election with a 1.1% growth in the second quarter of last [...]

The rhetoric is all about tough action to restore sanity to our public finances.  The maths suggests a different story. Far from cutting public borrowing, in February the public sector borrowed £11.8 Billion - the greatest amount the British state has borrowed in any February ever.  If that was not bad enough, it [...]

                The Euro crisis has not been resolved. It is a rolling crisis, a series of accidents and market falls, often made worse by rows around the Council of Ministers table or by unfortunate and diverse spin from member states governments.               This week Portugal and the markets have returned to [...]

                 As an MP I have always thought I should be loyal to my constituents, to my country and to my party – in that order. I have always taken seriously what I promised electors at the last Election and done my best to further those aims. When the Conservative [...]

For lack of any prospect of a real sustainable recovery in the global real economy, the ‘smart’ money (for which read: stupid money) is pouring into the next synthetic boom on a staggering scale.   The basis for these asset inflations is so transparently insubstantial that another financial crash cannot be [...]

                As readers of this site will know, I think the worst errors that led to the Credit Crunch were made by the banking regulators, the Central Bank and the government. It was lurching from too easy to too tight money and credit which brought the banks into stress. It [...]

So Mervyn King, Britain’s central bank governor, warned at the weekend that another financial crisis was brewing.   He is right.   There are five problems with the banks, and none of them has been resolved – lending, tax, pay, rebalancing.   On every one of them the banks have faced down the [...]

*Or rather yesterday but I didn't have time to write this then!As I'm sure you will have figured out if you've been reading this blog long enough, I am strongly in favour of making finance more easily accessible for those who need it. I was therefore more than happy to [...]

Downing Street has been beefed up with a Policy and Implementation team. It's intended to ensure that what the PM wants to happen actually happens. Maybe.Perhaps what really needs to happen is that the Treasury needs splitting into two? Leave a rump Finance Ministry behind, and transfer [...]