Faisal Islam
Spending review: a pot pourri of stealth cuts?
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.
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Gary Gibbon
Spending review: IFS examines the ‘regressive’ cuts
The Institute for Fiscal Studies examines whether George Osborne’s spending cuts are progressive or regressive.
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Gary Gibbon
Detours on the road to a smaller State
The Chancellor knows where he wants to take Britain economically, but he has to face a few detours first, says our Political Editor.
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Faisal Islam
A ‘regressive’ review that will impact well beyond benefits and state workers
Faisal Islam blogs on today’s Spending Review and finds it a “perfectly regressive review”.
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Spending Review: fairness, child benefit and tax credits
There was a lot to check out in the Spending Review – and we’ll keep on it for the rest of the week. But here’s a taster of the claims that caught FactCheck’s eye.
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Are the cuts fair?
Is the spending review fair? Choosing “fairness” as the test could yet turn out to be an act of political genius, or a suicide note.
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Gary Gibbon
Vince doing the biz on university fees?
Gary Gibbon looks at the small print of the spending plans for higher education – and finds there might be more cash to ameliorate the rise in student fees.
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Gary Gibbon
Spending review ‘conceals a lot of pain’
George Osborne’s making much of having undershot Labour’s notional departmental spending average of 20 per cent. But that’s a dubious comparison, blogs Gary Gibbon.
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Gary Gibbon
Spending review: Osborne’s child benefit sums
We were told by the Tories when they announced child benefit changes at their own conference that removing higher rate tax payers would bring in around £1b. But – hey presto – George Osborne’s just said it will bring in £2.5bn, blogs Gary Gibbon.
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Gary Gibbon
Spending review: ‘richest pay most’?
In his spending review, Chancellor Osborne said distributional analysis shows richest pay most when you look at “entire fiscal consolidation” – that’s all tax, spend and welfare decisions starting, I presume, with the last government, blogs Gary Gibbon.
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The Axeman Cometh – and now for the poor too.
The coalition is proving masterful at manipulating the story. It now seems certain the Spending Review on Wednesday will involve dramatic and deep cuts affecting those on low incomes and benefits but the last three weeks have been dominated by pain for the “squeezed middle” and the rich.
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Gary Gibbon
How to fill the black hole in higher education funding
The Comprehensive Spending Review will spell out the size of the funding gap in higher education on 20 October. But you won’t get the government’s plan for filling that hole, it’s reaction to Browne’s report (published 11 October), until some time later, probably before Christmas.
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Gary Gibbon
No spending review “shock and awe” attack on universal benefits
Gary Gibbon blogs on how universal benefits such as winter fuel allowance and free bus travel may not suffer a “shock and awe” attack in next month’s spending review.