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Olly Robbins hits back over Mandelson’s vetting

Olly Robbins hits back over Mandelson’s vetting

Sir Olly Robbins has only been giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee for 20 minutes, and already he has made clear that he is not going to allow Keir Starmer to shape the narrative around Peter Mandelson’s vetting. The former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office told MPs within minutes of starting his session that when he started ...
An energy bill bailout would be a terrible idea

An energy bill bailout would be a terrible idea

Liz Truss’s greatest fiscal sin was her Energy Price Guarantee. True, markets didn’t like her tax cuts unmatched by spending cuts, and a Budget which froze out the Office for Budget Responsibility. But they hated an open-ended commitment to subsidise energy prices, which the government estimated would cost £25 billion in the first six months ...
The absurdity of this week’s tube strike

The absurdity of this week’s tube strike

I’ll say this for the RMT: they are, at least, a trade union that has long since given up the pretense of caring about the wider public good. While the insufferable junior doctors pretend their money-grabbing militancy is somehow an act of great benevolence towards patients, the rail workers’ union is so transparently a glorified protection racket that ...
Why politicians make us wince

Why politicians make us wince

Mind your language! There has recently been another smattering of incidents featuring accusations of inappropriate choice of words, or even just the wrong tone. I think it’s worth taking a closer look at some of these for what they reveal about our hang-ups, the tender areas of our discourse. What makes us wince? What is considered appropriate, and ...

Olly Robbins hits back over Mandelson’s vetting

Olly Robbins hits back over Mandelson’s vetting
Sir Olly Robbins has only been giving evidence to the foreign affairs committee for 20 minutes, and already he has made clear that he is not going to allow Keir Starmer to shape the narrative around Peter Mandelson’s vetting. The former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office told MPs within minutes of starting his session that when he started ...

An energy bill bailout would be a terrible idea

An energy bill bailout would be a terrible idea
Liz Truss’s greatest fiscal sin was her Energy Price Guarantee. True, markets didn’t like her tax cuts unmatched by spending cuts, and a Budget which froze out the Office for Budget Responsibility. But they hated an open-ended commitment to subsidise energy prices, which the government estimated would cost £25 billion in the first six months ...

The absurdity of this week’s tube strike

The absurdity of this week’s tube strike
I’ll say this for the RMT: they are, at least, a trade union that has long since given up the pretense of caring about the wider public good. While the insufferable junior doctors pretend their money-grabbing militancy is somehow an act of great benevolence towards patients, the rail workers’ union is so transparently a glorified protection racket that ...

Why politicians make us wince

Why politicians make us wince
Mind your language! There has recently been another smattering of incidents featuring accusations of inappropriate choice of words, or even just the wrong tone. I think it’s worth taking a closer look at some of these for what they reveal about our hang-ups, the tender areas of our discourse. What makes us wince? What is considered appropriate, and ...