British Chambers of Commerce conference – as it happened
Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happen, including David Cameron, Ed Balls and Nick Clegg addressing the British Chambers of Commerce conferenceEd Balls’ speech, Q&A...
View ArticleThe Tories are putting Britain’s democracy up for auction | Owen Jones
They’re offering dinners, bronze statues of Margaret Thatcher and pheasant shooting for Conservative party funds. Exactly what will the donors get in return?Britain’s railways, the NHS, the education...
View ArticleJohn Crace’s sketch: Balls and Cameron are far from strictly business
Labour is not anti-business and the Tories are definitely pro-business – well, if you’re the right type of business person …In his eagerness to show how much Labour loves business, Ed Miliband somehow...
View ArticleDavid Cameron’s cynical attack on ‘skivers’ will hurt the strivers as well |...
Those in work are finding their pay and conditions squeezed because employers know they can be replacedDuring the recession, John McArthur put himself forward to work for LAMH Recycle Ltd in...
View ArticleLondon is changing: share your stories of moving house in the capital
Whether you’re moving to, within, or out of the city, a new project wants to find out why – and will be sharing responses on billboards in the capital next weekAs house prices in the capital soar and...
View ArticleUK disposable incomes fell in first three years of coalition government, says...
Year-on-year rises in income tax threshold, which cost the Treasury billions in lost revenue, unable to protect households from the economic downturn British household spending power fell in the first...
View ArticleYanis Varoufakis: ‘If I weren’t scared, I’d be dangerous’
With the world’s gazed fixed on Athens, a former academic with a penchant for leather jackets has taken centre stage. With no plan B and nothing to lose, he’s ready for battle — and if it all goes...
View ArticleThe hardy band of business leaders backing Labour
Founders of LoveFilm and Ecotricity give public backing to Miliband and co, dismissing idea that party is anti-business“If you are seen as a Labour businessperson, you are diminished.” Simon Franks,...
View ArticleNHS private health provider accused of US hospice fraud
Optum, one of 12 firms favoured by NHS, accused of admitting patients who were not terminally ill in order to boost profitsOne of the private health firms awarded the chance to earn contracts worth up...
View ArticleLow-pay Britain, where working families have to rent a fridge
‘Deprivation poverty’ – not being able afford to buy things most would regard as essential - is on the rise: and more than half of those affected have jobsThere’s a minor domestic crisis in any family...
View ArticleLabour must push what Miliband has got right on the economy in election runup
Charge sheet brought by the Tories may not stand up, but party still needs show how its tax and spending policy can help re-shape and modernise the economyIn less than three months’ time, Ed Miliband...
View ArticleBlame corporate greed, not the obese | Zoe Williams
If we called it ‘metabolic syndrome’, we’d be lining up to demand a cure. But that wouldn’t fit the Conservative mindset‘Strip fat people of their benefits”: a chill went through me when I saw the...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne under pressure from Vince Cable over HSBC scandal
Business secretary demands to know whether there has been proper vigilance and why there have been so few prosecutions for tax evasionGeorge Osborne is facing growing pressure over the HSBC scandal...
View ArticleLabour's plans would unlock the potential of the UK economy
We did not have the chance to prove our credentials and demonstrate that we had the right plan for recoveryLabour is making two arguments about the economy: the shorter term costs of living addressed...
View ArticleMandelson backs Miliband's 'middle-out' economic plan
The former business secretary applauds Labour leader’s industrial policy which focuses attention beyond ‘a handful of people at the top’Peter Mandelson has offered his support for a new initiative by...
View ArticleUK growth to pick up as cheaper oil cheers consumers, CBI says
Business group raises forecast for 2015 to 2.7%, citing falling costs for households and firms, but warns political uncertainty is hurting confidenceLow oil prices and inflation will help Britain...
View ArticleThe great mansion tax deception | Simon Jenkins
The genuine solution is rebanded council tax. But then Ed Balls would not get to keep the moneyMansion tax is the tax of the moment. It is Britain’s first new fiscal idea since the poll tax in 1989,...
View ArticleEd Miliband promises 80,000 more apprenticeships under Labour – video
Ed Miliband pledges to create an extra 80,000 high-quality apprenticeships a year. Speaking at Jaguar Land Rover in Wolverhampton on Monday, the Labour leader says he would guarantee an apprenticeship...
View ArticleEd Balls should worry about hedge fund managers not hedge trimmers | Jackie...
A mass of legal loopholes has blurred the distinction between prudent financial planning and avoidanceLet nobody say that the political wrestling ahead of the general election is mere point scoring or...
View ArticleEast Coast gives lie to privatisation dogma | Letters
Professor Evans’s review of Britain’s railways omits several crucial facts (King for a day: My people will be passengers, not customers, 14 February). The railway is now carrying more people and goods...
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