Britain won’t recover while its economy is dominated by magical thinking |...
All week this series looks at the questions Labour will need to answer if it is to win the next election. Today, how can Britain pay its way in the world?For the Azande people of Upper Nile, witchcraft...
View ArticleBurnham urges Harman to drop her call for Labour to abstain on welfare bill -...
Rolling coverage of all the day’s political developments as they happenSturgeon defends SNP’s U-turn decision on hunting voteSNP’s hunting decision - Reaction and analysisGovernment pulls hunting...
View ArticleDear Labour, it is no longer OK not to get the internet | Gaby Hinsliff
All week, this series looks at the questions Labour will need to answerif it is to win the next election. Today - how will technology affect the future?Let me take you back to a world some of you have...
View ArticleShould we pay a minimum wage or a living income?
Cutting tax credits and raising the minimum wage puts the onus of income on having a job - jobs which are increasingly at riskMost rich countries now have millions of “working poor” – people whose jobs...
View ArticleUK interest rate rise billed for new year, warns Bank of England
Mark Carney says first increase since height of financial crisis is becoming increasingly necessary as economic growth strengthensBritain has been put on alert to expect its first interest rate rise...
View ArticleLabour must learn to speak human, whatever its policies | Jonathan Freedland
All week this series has looked at the questions Labour will need to answer if it is to win the next election. Today – how should the party talk to the people it seeks to govern?Long before Labour lost...
View ArticleHillary Clinton delivers fiery speech at Democratic party hall of fame dinner
Clinton attacked Jeb Bush and Scott Walker by name and said Democrats ‘are in the future business … but the Republicans are the party of the past’Hillary Clinton delivered a fiery barn burner to a...
View ArticleThe Observer view on the Labour leadership election | Observer editorial
If Jeremy Corbyn is the answer then Labour is asking the wrong questionTwo months after a disastrous election defeat, Labour is mired in a lengthy, inwardly focused leadership election. The debates are...
View ArticleWhy Mark Carney shouldn’t rush to play the rate-rise card
With UK households among the most indebted in any major economy, even a modest interest rate increase would have a huge impactBorrowers beware: Mark Carney’s clear message in his speech at Lincoln...
View ArticleIs the government still behind the banking ringfence?
George Osborne should remember that ringfencing was not a mindless piece of bank-bashing adopted on a whimThe general election was only10 weeks ago and already the big banks have scored two major...
View ArticleSpending review: Osborne orders Whitehall to draw up plans for 40% cuts
Chancellor tells government departments to set out plans for further cuts by September, on top of £17bn savings announced in July budgetGeorge Osborne has ordered government departments to plan ways to...
View ArticleLocal authority spending cuts help government to borrow less in June
Borrowing down by almost £1bn on year before as George Osborne steers course to hit deficit target of £69.5bn for 2015-16Lower spending by local authorities provided George Osborne with a boost last...
View ArticleThe non-virtual elephant in Paul Mason’s postcapitalist sharing-economy room...
Since I can’t sprinkle Wikipedia on my porridge, clothe myself with an open-source pattern for jeans, or access the internet by data alone, I’m puzzled about Paul Mason’s postcapitalist proto-utopia...
View ArticleThe Guardian view on greening the economy: the price is worth paying | Editorial
Some of the policy needed updating. But it cannot be made cost-freeThe government’s energy policy is chaotic. On the one hand, with time running out before the Paris climate change summit in December,...
View ArticleGeorge Osborne will spend more than ever. Don’t be fooled by his ‘40% cuts’ |...
The chancellor is not cutting the cost of the public sector – he just wants a different one. But even then, expect costs to balloonGeorge Osborne loves to play the heebie-jeebie who pops up at parties...
View ArticleGuardian Live: Is capitalism dead?
Paul Mason believes we’re on the cusp of a seismic economic shift. At a Guardian Live event he argued that capitalism is failing to adapt, and was joined by Douglas Murray, Zoe Williams, Julia Powles...
View Article‘Quarterly capitalism’ is short-term, myopic, greedy and dysfunctional| Will...
Shareholders must stop sucking companies dry at the expense of innovation, investment and the wellbeing of the workforceIt has been obvious for years that British capitalism is profoundly...
View ArticleA chancellor who shrinks the state will end up shrinking his popularity
The rhetoric about ‘scroungers’ plays well, but the size of Osborne’s assault on services is so large that he may end up facing a widespread public backlashThe Conservatives are riding high at the...
View ArticleThe recovery seems to be strong – but a rate rise will bring it crashing down
Sweden and Canada have both suffered the consequences of raising rates too early. No matter how good GDP figures are this week, the Bank should take careBritain’s growth rate returned to Mach 2 speed...
View ArticleSmall business commissioner to help firms chasing payments avoid court
Minister Anna Soubry says mediation plan will ‘tackle imbalance’ between big business and small suppliers, which are owed more than £26bnSmall businesses losing out on billions of pounds in late...
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