‘Mistake’ to focus on flu in pandemic preparedness, David Cameron admits June 19, 2023 David Cameron has admitted it was a “mistake” for his government to focus too heavily on preparing for an influenza wave rather than a potential coronavirus pandemic. The former Conservative prime minister told the official Covid-19 inquiry, which is currently examining the UK’s readiness to respond to a disease outbreak, the decision led to “many [...]
Labour and Tory governments shun £500bn of investment for UK economy since 2000 March 30, 2023 Britain has missed out on £500bn of public investment this century as a result of successive Labour and Conservative governments trimming capital spending to balance the books, a new report out today claims. Since the turn of the millennium, the UK has injected around 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) of public investment [...]
Sunak says there’s ‘no chance’ of law change over Elgin Marbles as ex chancellor Osborne explores options March 13, 2023 Rishi Sunak has said there are “no plans” to change a law which blocks the Elgin Marbles from being given to Greece. The Prime Minister said the UK had “cared for” the sculptures in the British Museum for generations and they were “shared with the world” at the London site. Athens has long demanded the [...]
Former Chancellor George Osborne ‘disappointed’ by government delay on junk food advert ban December 27, 2022 Former Chancellor George Osborne has said he would extend a sugar levy and dubbed it “disappointing” that marketing restrictions on junk food have not yet been introduced. The former Tory politician said it was “very disappointing” that restrictions on advertising food products with high fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) contents have been delayed. A ban [...]
Send poorest Brits a cheque and don’t hike corporation tax, George Osborne tells Rishi Sunak May 23, 2022 Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is convinced a windfall tax is coming, despite the squabbling between Numbers 10 and 11, while also saying he would put a cheque in the post to the poorest families in the UK. Moreover, he disagrees with present Chancellor Rishi Sunak over the proposed rise in corporation tax. [...]
Former Chancellor predicts PM will U-turn on HS2 cuts November 21, 2021 Former Chancellor George Osborne has predicted Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a U-turn on the government’s decision to cut HS2’s eastern leg. Talking to the Financial Times’ Payne’s Politics podcast, Osborne – who was Chancellor from 2010 to 2015 during David Cameron’s government – labelled the decision to scale back on HS2 as “pretty [...]
Former chancellor George Osborne named British Museum chair June 24, 2021 George Osborne has been named as the new chair of the British Museum, marking the latest high-profile role for the former chancellor. Osborne will join the board in September and take up the role of chair from 4 October. He takes over from former Financial Times editor and CBI director general Sir Richard Lambert, who [...]
George Osborne takes up full-time banking role at Robey Warshaw February 1, 2021 George Osborne is joining boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw, as he shuns a portfolio of wide-ranging roles to become a full-time mergers and acquisitions banker. The former chancellor will step down from his current roles as editor-in-chief of the Evening Standard and a senior advisor to Blackrock at the end of March, taking up a [...]
We turn politics into a deposition at our peril May 30, 2019 Politics is not known as one of the more truthful professions. Spin, exaggeration, and truth-stretching are all staples of the politician’s toolkit. We might prefer it to be otherwise, but the reality is that an astute public must take claims uttered by those in office with a healthy dose of salt. It is therefore worrying [...]
Theresa May calls for return of maintenance grants for poorer students May 29, 2019 Theresa May will call for the reintroduction of maintenance grants for university students from poorer backgrounds on Thursday. The outgoing Prime Minister is backing a recommendation made by an independent review of further education, which calls for handouts of at least £3,000 for those from poorer backgrounds. Maintenance grants were axed in 2015 by then-chancellor George [...]