Losing to the French, snitching on a Colombian, and dreaming of Rome Top of the charts 26 July 2024 Morning all, If last week was all about the ONS’s data releases, this week the National Audit Office was centre stage. A stream of (mostly) damning reports into the state of public services were published this week. That’s where all the headlines you’ve been seeing about the state of HS2, the NHS, homelessness and potholes have come from. … Continued READ MORE
Pondering polls, worrying about wages and considering class Top of the charts 19 July 2024 Morning all, This week has been full of ups and downs. The football was coming home, then it didn’t. The weather was miserable, then we got a surprise heat wave. A King’s speech in July? It feels like we’re about to go back to school for the new year, not hurtling towards parliamentary recess and … Continued READ MORE
General Election 2024· Economic growth Time to hit the ground running Top of the Charts 12 July 2024 Morning all, We’re now a week into a seismic political shift in UK politics, with Labour returning to office for the first time in 14 years. This is a Parliament that’s more new than old – 335 of the 650 MPs sworn in this week have never been one before. It’s also more representative than … Continued READ MORE
General Election 2024 Have you been paying attention? How Brits have engaged with the general election campaign Top of the charts 28 June 2024 Morning all, Has anyone else noticed the difference between this election campaign and the parliament that preceded it? When they write the history books, I am confident they will describe the 2019–2024 parliament as nuts. We left the European Union, suffered the biggest pandemic in a century, saw the biggest war on European soil since … Continued READ MORE
Busting dance moves and wishing back bad weather Top of the charts 21 June 2024 Morning all, Let’s face it, there’s been some pretty disappointing performances during the election campaign. But the weather at least has finally stepped up to the plate to provide an appropriate backdrop to the SUMMER election. Still, it always pays to have a brolly at hand. While the sun is still out the summer vibes … Continued READ MORE
The economic battle lines in the manifestos Top of the Charts 14 June 2024 Afternoon all, And breathe. The manifestos are out; the serious wonk business can begin. If you have digested the fine detail of the parties’ manifestos – good for you. If you haven’t, then I am shocked and appalled by this dereliction of your democratic duty. Luckily for you, we have. So today’s TOTC special on the … Continued READ MORE
Taxes rise and fall, while wages flatline for 100 years Top of the Charts 7 June 2024 Morning all, They say a week is a long time in politics. Let me tell you – it can be a long time in think-tanks too. TOTC readers will be familiar with Torsten’s tirades against anti-politics over the years, and those sentiments have followed their logical conclusion as he seeks elected office. We wish him … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events This Budget will leave the poorest households hundreds of pounds a year worse off Families across Britain should expect a bumpy ride over the next six months 2 November 2021 by Mike Brewer Having spent the first 18 months in the job delivering Covid crisis fiscal statements, you can understand why there was a celebratory vibe to the Chancellor’s first “post-crisis” Budget today. The Government’s official economic watchdog, the OBR, came to the party laden with gifts – including a major upgrade to economic growth and a £141 … Continued READ MORE
The Government’s record on Covid-19 has been defined by two big successes and one recurring deadly failure With the worst of the crisis behind us, it is right to assess how the Government has handled the pandemic 19 March 2021 by Mike Brewer The first anniversary of the first national lockdown falls on 23 March. With the worst of the crisis behind us, it is right to assess how the Government has handled the pandemic. Even the Prime Minister’s former Chief Advisor Dominic Cummings thinks the need for an inquiry is urgent. We can break down the Government’s handling of the crisis into … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Labour market The Chancellor has prevented a grim winter of redundancies – but has failed to fix the faults with his jobs support package 6 November 2020 by Mike Brewer On Thursday, Rishi Sunak announced that the Job Retention Scheme – where employees can be put on furlough and still get 80 per cent of their wages covered by the government – will continue to the end of March. Self-employed workers can get another three-month grant of 80 per cent of their pre-crisis profits. There … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Any further questions? From The safety net in action? Universal Credit’s role in the crisis and the recovery 28 May 2020 by Mike Brewer and Karl Handscomb We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event The safety net in action? … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Unprecedented support for employees’ wages last week has been followed up by equally significant, and even more generous, support for the self-employed. But gaps remain 27 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb and Daniel Tomlinson Yesterday, the Chancellor announced that last week’s pledge to underwrite 80 per cent of the wages of employees without work to do during this crisis is being matched with significant grants to the self-employed. This is an important addition to existing plans to support employees, and in many ways a more generous offer. The Self-Employed … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Incomes· Labour market· Welfare Key take-aways from the Chancellor’s package of measures to support workers in the coronavirus crisis 22 March 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner The Chancellor’s announcements on Friday 20 March were unprecedented in their scale and reach, and absolutely vital for supporting firms and family incomes in the face of the current crisis. Here are five key take-aways on how these changes will affect families, and three next steps for the Government to consider. 1. At a … Continued READ MORE