“You could call this the Great Stagnation, you could call it the Disastrous Decoupling, you could call it Growth without Gain. What it definitely is, though, is deeply bad news for a massive swathe of Britain.”
The border between urban Manchester and leafy Trafford has become the front line in a fierce political battle over who’s to blame for cuts to local services. FactCheck gets to work.
FactCheck learns the unions are spoiling for a fight over police cuts – and the Government could be leaving police chiefs in a legal minefield.
“It is also important we end the sensationalist myths about the local housing allowance reforms in 2011…In London around 750,000 private rental homes will still be affordable.” Lord Freud, minister for welfare reform, South London Press, January 11, 2011.
Faisal Islam blogs on the expected rise of interest rates, and asks where now for the Government’s Plan B?
The claim “My understanding is that the 15 per cent figure – that was quoted by the Shadow Home Secretary – is wrong, and that it is an interpretation of the House of Commons library figures rather than the House of Commons library figure.” Home Secretary Theresa May MP, Select Committee, December 14, 2010
It is rather difficult to escape the notion that in an almost crazed desire to be seen as “fair”, the Coalition has made a bit of a dog’s dinner of the spending review.
There is only one aim for the Union movement here in Manchester. Can they turn the government’s austerity drive from an issue of self interest into an issue of nationwide social justice?
Gary Gibbon
George Osborne has been summoned to the Commons to explain his £4b cuts chat on Thursday after a demand from a dissident Lib Dem MP and the permission of the Speaker, writes political editor Gary Gibbon.
Jon Snow
I spent Sunday in the Solent on a boat sailed by my cousin Peter. A good wind in our sails, choppy seas, and glorious unbroken sunshine as we sped past the glistening white Needles. There was hardly another boat in sight. I wondered why, and suddenly remembered the Men’s Final at Wimbledon was on. Must…
Faisal Islam blogs on a coup for the Treasury after some strong US backing.
I do have serious questions about one massive U-turn from Messrs Clegg and Cable – their adoption of the Conservative plan for £6bn of in-year cuts, writes economics editor Faisal Islam.
So there we have it. Clarity, honesty, and candour on Day 22 of the election campaign. Not at any of the party political press conferences. No, it’s been left to the trusty holders of the spending shield of truth: the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Gary Gibbon
The Treasury’s in-house assessment of how “fiscal consolidations” have worked in other countries has been revealed after a freedom of information request.