Opinion: Does Jeremy Hunt Hate Children?
by Edie Miller
The chancellor’s recent budget announcement of 30 hours of free childcare for one and two-year-olds is too little, too late.
Tag: budget
Opinion: Jeremy Hunt’s Budget Didn’t Crash the Economy Again. So Why Aren’t Tories Pleased?
by Tom Peters
The budget was a departure from the government's strategy of actively causing chaos and instability, writes Tom Peters.
Analysis: If You Thought 2022 Was Bad for Your Bank Balance, Just Wait for the Sequel
by James Meadway
You’ll be poorer, the planet hotter. On the upside, the working class will be readier than ever to take on the crisis that is 2023.
Report: Mini-Budget: Attacks on Trade Unions, Tax Cuts for the Rich
by Simon Childs
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng first 'mini-budget' was slammed by left-wingers, but delighted a neoliberal lobby group.
Analysis: The Tories Expect Massive Public Demands on the Cost of Living Crisis. Why Aren’t We Making Them?
by James Meadway
Rishi Sunak knows his spring statement was a failure and is already bracing for pushback. Let’s exploit his weakness, writes James Meadway.
Opinion: Putin Didn’t Create the Cost of Living Crisis
by Ell Folan
Amid skyrocketing energy bills and regressive tax hikes, rightwing commentators have found an easy scapegoat in Ukraine. Yet the crisis long preceded Putin’s invasion, Ell Folan explains.
Live: What’s in Rishi Sunak’s 2021 Budget?
Rishi Sunak's budget may have come with some big spending pledges, but it's nowhere near enough to undo a decade of austerity.
Live: John McDonnell’s Message to Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak will this week deliver a budget and spending review that will shape how Britain rebuilds following Covid-19. We speak to former shadow chancellor John McDonnell about what he thinks should be in it.
The Bastani Factor: Rishi Sunak Found the Magic Money Tree
After 2010 British politics was shaped by one idea above all others: austerity. We were told that there wasn’t enough money to pay for EMA, university fees, council housing or even the existing range of benefits. And yet the government’s response to Covid-19 demonstrates the extent to which that was a political choice rather than […]
Analysis: After All the Hype Over Budget 2021…That’s It?
by James Meadway
Rishi Sunak wants to appear radical while cementing the status quo - and unless the left presents an alternative, he will, writes James Meadway.
Live: What’s in Rishi Sunak’s Budget?
Does Rishi Sunak's budget speech show the Tories have finally dumped Osbornomics to instead channel John McDonnell?
Opinion: Now Isn’t the Time for a General Tax Hike – We Need to Target Those Who’ve Profited From the Pandemic
by Ann Pettifor
The left must be wary of flatly equating tax increases with post-pandemic recovery. In today’s budget, Rishi Sunak should go after the few whose wealth has increased over the past year, argues economist Ann Pettifor.
Live: Starmer Outflanked by Tories on Corporation Tax
Labour have confirmed that if Rishi Sunak raises corporation tax at next week's budget, they will vote against it.
Opinion: Sunak’s Spending Review Is a Drop of Water in a Desert – the Left Must Demand More
by James Meadway
From divide-and-rule public sector pay freezes to ripe-for-corruption local spending schemes, Sunak's plan is radically insufficient for our current crisis. The left must forward an alternative, and quick, writes James Meadway.
Opinion: Sunak is Making up His Own Rules to Give Bosses a Handout – the Left Needs a Smart Response
by James Meadway
The chancellor overruled his own officials to drive through his Job Retention Scheme Bonus despite significant financial, political and social risks. But challenging the government's 'corporate welfare' agenda in favour of workers' welfare will require a new stategy, argues James Meadway.
Opinion: From Climate to Jobs, Sunak’s Budget ‘Event’ Falls Short of the Protections We Need
by Grace Blakeley
Unless the government invests in creating millions of new, secure, well-paid green jobs, the ‘recovery’ from the pandemic will be even weaker – if it even comes at all. Grace Blakeley on the chancellor's underwhelming summer statement.
Live: Rishi Sunak’s Meal Deal
Rishi Sunak claims his mini-budget will save your job and save the high street, but is a bonus for employers and a half-price meal voucher enough to save Britain from a virus-induced depression? With Michael Walker, Faiza Shaheen and Owen Jones.
Opinion: The 2020 Budget Shows the Tories Are Playing by New Rules
by Aaron Bastani
Did Rishi Sunak just end austerity? No. Is Britain adequately preparing for the panoply of crises set to define the coming decades? Also no. But make no mistake, writes Aaron Bastani, this was the first Tory budget since 2010 to abandon the neoliberal frame of ‘necessity', demonstrating how Labour under Corbyn won certain arguments.