Tag Archives: george osborne

The weekend debate: Should Stephen Hester accept his bonus?

By Carl Quilliam | Published 28th January 2012 - 9:25 am

Here’s your starter for ten in our weekend slot where we throw up an idea or thought for debate…

Since the £963, 000 shares bonus for RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester has been revealed there have been opinions pouring out from across the political spectrum.

When Ed Miliband accused David Cameron of a “failure of leadership” over it, Cameron promptly distanced himself from the process altogether, with George Osborne claiming it was due to rules put in place by Labour.

Boris Johnson seems to be against it, as is our usually economically …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged boris johnson, ed miliband, jeremy browne, nick clegg, stephen hester, weekend debate | 28 Comments

Nick Clegg unites with Lords in battle to alter benefit cuts

By Mark Pack | Published 14th January 2012 - 8:29 pm

So reports tomorrow’s Observer:

David Cameron has been lobbied by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, on the need to rewrite the government’s flagship benefit reform to help children suffering as a result.

Clegg proposed a series of changes to the £500-a-week cap, including exempting current claimants, in an attempt to ameliorate some of the worst consequences of the change, which critics claim will make 40,000 families homeless by making their current homes unaffordable.

It is understood Clegg made his appeal during a meeting attended by the chancellor, George Osborne, and Danny Alexander, chief secretary of the Treasury. Cameron asked the Liberal Democrats

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Posted in News | Also tagged danny alexander, david cameron, housing benefit, nick clegg | 13 Comments

Opinion: Lib Dems Must oppose Labour’s ideological cuts in 2012

By David Thorpe | Published 22nd December 2011 - 2:56 pm

If I were a cleverer person than I am, I would try to create a joke with a punch line to fit the following set-up: What’s the difference between a cut in government spending and an ideological cut in government spending?

That I’m not clever enough to create a pithy punch line is of no consequence, as it is no laughing matter.

Labour have sometimes tried to trail the line that the coalition’s cuts are avoidable, that there are the product of ideology rather than necessity.

This line lacked some credence because even as they …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged alistair darling, deficit, ed balls, ed miliband, haringey council, vince cable | 22 Comments

What Lib Dem members think of George Osborne’s autumn statement (and the two measures they oppose)

By Stephen Tall | Published 14th December 2011 - 4:45 pm

Lib Dem Voice has polled our members-only forum to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 550 party members responded, and we’re currently publishing the full results.

Lib Dem members give thumbs-up (mostly) to Osborne’s autumn statement

Two weeks ago, the Chancellor George Osborne updated MPs on the state of the economy and the government’s future plans in his Autumn Statement as the Office for Budget Responsibility published its latest growth and borrowing forecasts.

LDV asked: Do you support or oppose the following policies announced by the Chancellor? …

Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged economy | 17 Comments

“An inept negotiating strategy placed in the hands of an inexperienced prime minister” – behind the scenes of Cameron’s ‘veto’

By Stephen Tall | Published 13th December 2011 - 7:45 am

“An avoidable disaster”: that is the verdict of the Financial Times’s Philip Stephens in a must-read article examining what went on behind the scenes of the Coalition’s strategy for approaching last week’s failed European summit. And his verdict on the Prime Minister and his advisers could scarcely be more scathing:

There was no great plan for a rupture. What some Tories now see as Mr Cameron’s Churchillian moment was rather the result of an inept negotiating strategy placed in the hands of an inexperienced prime minister.

So what did happen? On last night’s Newsnight former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown set …

Posted in Europe / International, News | Also tagged david cameron, featured, financial times, jon cunliffe, nick clegg, paddy ashdown, philip stephens | 38 Comments

Opinion: Oh, what is the point?

By Alex Marsh | Published 3rd December 2011 - 3:28 pm

Having followed the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and then watched Danny Alexander interviewed on Newsnight on Tuesday I have to say my initial reaction was “oh, what is the point?”. That was a reaction to both substance and process.

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, as the IFS analysis demonstrates, hits the poorest hardest and those on middle and higher incomes less hard. Most would call that regressive. I’m sure some bright spark can come up with an argument that if you look at the data from a different direction – on the basis of expenditure not income, for example – then it isn’t …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged benefits, children's tax credit, deficit, housing | 59 Comments

The Coalition’s Political Plan B, Mrs T, and TINA: what does this spell out for the Lib Dems?

By Stephen Tall | Published 1st December 2011 - 2:15 pm

The political aftershock of George Osborne’s autumn statement is just beginning to sink in: the Coalition’s 5-year austerity programme, designed to end in 2015 by the time of the next general election, is now a 7-year programme straddling two parliaments.

This poses problems for the future of the Coalition, and for the Lib Dems in particular, encapsulated here by the FT’s Philip Stephens:

Here’s the paradox. The effect of sticking to economic plan A has been to shred the coalition government’s original political strategy. In the heady days after the 2010 election the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats signed up to

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ed bals, margaret thatcher, philip stephens, vince cable | 15 Comments

Ed Miliband’s wonky PMQs’ maths

By Stephen Tall | Published 1st December 2011 - 11:35 am

Paul Walter’s LibDemVoice review of yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions mentioned the Ed Miliband soundbite which has been picked up by much of the media… but so far without the disbelief it’s due. Here’s what the Labour leader said:

The difference is that, unlike the Prime Minister, I am not going to demonise the dinner lady, the cleaner or the nurse, people who earn in a week what the Chancellor pays for his annual skiing holiday.

A quick reminder for those who don’t live in the Westminster bubble that, last January, it was revealed (by which I mean I read it …

Posted in Parliament, PMQs | Also tagged ed miliband, paul walter | 33 Comments

The Independent View: Autumn Statement makes the best of a bad situation

By Ben Norman | Published 29th November 2011 - 5:53 pm

How did George do then? The Chancellor needs to walk the line between providing stimulus on the one hand and protecting Britain from the bond markets on the other. It really isn’t easy to decide which side he should err on.

The bond markets are currently a ravenous pack of hyenas who have tasted blood in Greece, Italy and Portugal. Although they’re currently distracted by Belgium, Spain and now France even the slightest hint of weakness on Britain’s part will draw their perilous attention our way.

That said, protecting Britain from a bond market savaging must not be done at the expense …

Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | Also tagged economy | 30 Comments

LibLink: David Laws – George Osborne must stick to austerity Plan A

By Nick Thornsby | Published 29th November 2011 - 9:57 am

Over at the London Evening Standard, Lib Dem MP for Yeovil and former Treasury chief secretary, David Laws, has a piece urging the chancellor to maintain the coalition’s deficit reduction plan to avoid importing the debt-driven eurozone crisis to Britain.

Here’s a sample:

Before the general election, many people said that a coalition would be weak and unstable. They don’t say that any more. By comparison with the eurozone and the US, our Government looks strong, stable and united. It is set to stay that way.

The Chancellor will be able to report that borrowing has been falling as planned. Borrowing from April

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged david laws, deficit, economy | 7 Comments

The Independent View: 10 ways to promote growth

By Tony Dolphin | Published 25th November 2011 - 3:48 pm

Ahead of every recent budget and autumn statement, the right-of-centre think tanks have come out with a set of recommendations that support the broad thrust of government policy and argue for more of the same. True to form, earlier this week Reform made the case for sticking to Plan A on deficit reduction, abolishing the 50p tax rate and cutting workers’ employment rights.

But, with the economy having grown by just 0.5 per cent over the last year, and the Prime Minister hinting in a recent speech to the CBI that the government’s deficit reduction plan is being blown off course, …

Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | Also tagged economy | 5 Comments

Laws advises Clegg: oppose Tories’ “arbitrary and vindictive” benefits cuts

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th November 2011 - 1:10 pm

The Financial Times this weekend reported what it labelled ‘one of the fiercest and most fascinating political battles of the year’ — a battle which looks set to pitch David Laws and Nick Clegg against George Osborne and the Labour leadership.

The issue concerns the amount by which the Coalition should increase benefits: based on September’s inflation figure, this should be 5.2%. The Tories are pushing for a below-inflation settlement, but Mr Laws — co-editor of The Orange Book, and firmly identified as an economic liberal — is urging the Lib Dems to reject such a move:

Mr Laws, considered

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Posted in News | Also tagged benefits, david laws, iain duncan smith, nick clegg, welfare | 7 Comments

A trio of Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements in government

By Mark Pack | Published 26th October 2011 - 11:55 pm

Like London buses, Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements are coming along all bunched together at the moment:

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has criticised “climate sceptics” and others who he argues are decrying the UK’s potential for renewable power … His comments are being interpreted by some as a riposte to Chancellor George Osborne who is believed to be more sceptical about the investment needed. (BBC)

Vince Cable rejects proposal to abolish unfair dismissal laws: Business secretary said plan devised by strategist Steve Hilton was unnecessary and unlikely to improve labour market flexibility (The Guardian)

In order to safeguard the NHS, free at

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Posted in News | Also tagged chris huhne, climate, NHS, nhs reform, steve hilton, tom watson, vince cable | 2 Comments

The Independent View: Final Demand – it’s time to end the power of the Big Six

By Andy Atkins | Published 17th October 2011 - 1:50 pm

News last week that the Big Six energy firms are raking in bumper profits while the nation struggles with soaring fuel bills was just the latest electric shock to hit cash-strapped families.

Ofgem’s revelation that energy firm profit margins have risen to £125 per customer per year, from £15 in June, will crank up pressure on the Government to act – and rightly so.

But if Ministers really want to get to grips with soaring fuel bills we must also tackle the root cause – our nation’s reliance on increasingly expensive gas, coal and oil and the failure of the Big Six

…

Posted in Op-eds, The Independent View | Also tagged chris huhne, energy | 3 Comments

Lynne Featherstone vs Steve Hilton on maternity pay

By Mark Pack | Published 17th October 2011 - 7:25 am

From yesterday’s Observer:

In a wide-ranging interview with the Observer, Featherstone said it was vital the coalition delivered on its family-friendly rhetoric … In a forthright attack on some of the advisers shaping government policy, she criticised the role of Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist tasked with reporting to the prime minister on how to cut regulation on business. Beecroft is understood to have recommended a U-turn on government policies on shared parental leave and flexible working.

The proposals, outlined in a white paper, would allow couples greater freedom to co-ordinate maternity and paternity leave. A separate proposal would make it

…

Posted in News | Also tagged adrian beecroft, eric pickles, lynne featherstone, maternity pay, michael gove, nick clegg, olive letwin, paternity leave, rob blackie, steve hilton, theresa may | 1 Comment

Tag Archives: george osborne

Lib Dem members give thumbs-up (mostly) to Osborne’s autumn statement

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