Monthly Archives: September 2011

                   On Wednesday the BBC asked me their usual economic questions. Have the cuts been too deep and too fast? Are the cuts now leading to slowdown in  the economy?                 It is quite difficult dealing with this. People who presume to comment and question on their favourite subject of public spending should at [...]

                  The Euro story is degenerating into farce. This week we were told the future of Greek debt and the wider European banking system was hanging by the thread of a phone call between the French, German and  Greek governments. Markets waited for these people to miraculously solve the problems of the Greek deficit, Italian [...]

            I have set out my big idea – a competitive banking industry with money available to lend for business growth, for individuals to buy homes, and for infrastructure projects paid for by the private sector.  It has had on the whole a positive response here. It could make say  a 5% or £75 [...]

             More than 100 Conservative MPs attended the meeting yesterday. There seemed to be general agreement that we need a new and different relationship with the  single currency area/country emerging on the continent. Expect to see and hear  more from this group led by George Eustice.

              The Budget book of June 2010 said UK GDP would rise from £1.4 trillion in 2009-10 to £1.8 trillion in 2014-15.  This includes 13% real growth, plus some inflation.              Taxes would increase from £480 billion to £ 656 billion.              Let’s leave out the inflation  and just concentrate on the real growth. [...]

      Today is the day when the relatively new George Eustice group meets in the Commons to discuss how we can reverse the constant movement to ever closer union. Contrary to the press adverts for it, it will not just be a meeting of Eurosceptics elected for the first time in 2010. All are [...]

          The UK economy is not going to grow strongly unless and until the banks are mended. Many of our troubles today stem from the failure of regulation and bad banking in 2004-7 which got some of  the banks into an extreme financial position. This was compounded by the decision to nationalise or subsidise [...]