Jackie Long
No fairytale ending for Osborne’s welfare reforms
This is the moment when we get George Osborne’s famed fairytale scrounger, idling in bed with the curtains drawn all day, up and off his backside and into work. Or do we?
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Steve White: ‘We’ve cut too far too fast’
After a three-year battle to shake up the Police Federation – Steve White has called it a day – announcing he’ll leave his post at the end of the year.
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FactCheck: Cameron vs Miliband – the dodgy claims to watch out for
David Cameron and Ed Miliband make their big pitch to the nation tonight. Don’t want to get taken in by the spin? Read this first.
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FactCheck: what would Labour do?
Ed Miliband made a big pitch to voters today in a speech to the Labour faithful in Clydebank. Some opinion polls are suggesting the party could face a landslide defeat by the SNP north of the border, but Mr Miliband spent more time talking about the Conservatives than the threat from the nationalists. Not that…
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Should Labour be doffing its welfare cap to IDS? – FactCheck
Iain Duncan Smith has been on the airwaves justifying the welfare cap, claiming he’s stopping Labour’s out-of-control spending. Is he justified?
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FactCheck: Are council toilet closures infringing our rights?
Unison claims the closure of public loos could be infringing our rights. FactCheck takes a leak.
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FactCheck Q&A: Is crime really falling?
How can crime figures continue to tumble even as the economy flatlines and police numbers fall? FactCheck finds out.
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Jackie Long
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Victoria Macdonald
800 fewer nurses as NHS refunds £2.2bn to Treasury
NHS bosses are struggling to save £20bn over four years and the number of NHS nurses fell 800 last month, but a £2.2bn underspend at the Department of Health has gone back to the Treasury.
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Autumn statement: who pays most, rich or poor?
George Osborne says the richest will pay the most after the Autumn Statement. FactCheck isn’t quite as convinced.
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FactCheck: Fire alarm – but is it all smoke and mirrors?
The “25 per cent cuts” line deserves a bit of a pinch of salt, as does the complaint that the fire service as a whole has been hit harder by austerity than other public services.
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Faisal Islam
To the left, the economic spoils of the Olympic Games
Economics Editor Faisal Islam blogs on the economic hangover of the Olympic Games.
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FactCheck: Budget cuts and crime
The acting chief constable of Lancashire Constabulary claims his force has seen a rise in crime because of police budget cuts. FactCheck isn’t convinced.
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FactCheck: Has HMRC been spared from the cuts?
“This is what the government means when it talks about ‘increased staffing levels’ – that the cut is not quite as deep as first envisaged.”
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Faisal Islam
Politicians flounder amid gathering economic storm
Euro crisis, poor jobs figures, massive national strikes, on top of high inflation squeezing living standards – Economics Editor Faisal Islam reports on the political response to the economic bad weather.
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FactCheck: Police battle cuts to hold the frontline
Arresting statistics were published today: 34,100 police jobs will be axed in England and Wales by 2015 due to Government cuts – a third of these have already been cut. And the overall figure is an underestimation, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) admitted.