Angela Rayner is waiting in the wings for a recall to Starmer’s front bench – or even directly into Number 10 – so just one or two more questions about the flat in Hove…

Published on 6 February 2026 (as previously published on 31 January 2026 by https://conservativepost.com)

Introduction

Angela Rayner has not stopped being ‘on manoeuvres’ since her removal as Deputy Prime Minister for failing to adhere to the Ministerial Code in the matter of paying the correct Stamp Duty on her flat purchase in Hove.

She must fancy her chances […]

Denial of democracy in Norfolk threatens to sink the Tory ship

Published on 24th January 2026

Once again a letter published in the Daily Telegraph, which goes very well with the one preceding it, from a correspondent in Bergh Apton.

Last week’s letter attested to my intention to stay on the Tory ship until it sank; this week it has.

The historic judgement of North Norfolk on the sacking/defection of Robert Jenrick from Conservative to Reform

Published on 16th January 2026

My letter published in the Daily Telegraph of today’s date.

UPDATED: Is there a common understanding of the OBR statement in 2021 that Brexit would cause a ‘long-run’ 4% loss of GDP?

Revised calculations over 15 years from 2016

Published on 2 December 2025 and updated on 7 December 2025

It now turns out that the OBR’s ‘long-run’ was 15 years, rather than 20, and that their time series began in 2016, and not in 2021 when they made the statement.

The statement thus included the presumption that GDP growth […]

Main numbers in IREF report ‘The United Kingdom as a sandbox for state-directed investment’

Cover page of the report

Published on 12th November 2025

We have put together a summary of the numbers contained in our report published in October 2025 by IREF – the Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues – entitled ‘The United Kingdom as a sandbox for state-directed investment: major increase in ‘shadow debt’, and in […]

The United Kingdom as a sandbox for state-directed investment – with a major increase in ‘shadow debt’, and in the ‘shadow taxation’ required to service that debt

Cover of our IREF report

Published on 26th October 2025

We have had a major report published by the Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues.

It is about the plans of the UK government to launch a decade-long programme of ‘investment’ in industry, infrastructure and Net Zero, greatly expanding the state’s role in the economy.

You can […]

Richard Tice of Reform UK is wrong: the Bank of England should not stop paying interest on financial institutions’ reserves

Headline of Daily Telegraph article on 25 September 2025

Published on 10th October 2025

Richard Tice of Reform UK recently argued, in a Daily Telegraph article entitled ‘I know a way to avoid tax rises at the next Budget’, that the Bank of England (BoE) should stop paying interest on its funding for its Quantitative Easing (QE) […]

Andy Burnham’s hopes dealt a body blow

Published on 26th September 2025

My letter published in the Daily Telegraph on 25th September 2025

That’s it: Andy Burnham’s chances of becoming Prime Minister are dead-in-the-water, thanks to this devastating verdict passed by a leading economic and political commentator.

One could also have mentioned that Burnham is as keen as most other Labour politicians to tax the […]

France’s woes are attributable to its lack of economic and monetary sovereignty

The ECB, which holds the monetary policy tools over the euro

Published on 13th September 2025

Introduction

France had its credit rating cut from AA- to A+ by the Fitch credit rating agency on 12th September 2025. This is not the disaster it may appear to be at first sight, because all the other four agencies approved by […]

Brexit will have saved us £100 billion towards the EU Budget for the period 2028-35

Headline in the Daily Express version

Published on 20 July 2025

Introduction

The European Commission has started the ball rolling on the setting of the EU Budget for its next seven-year period 2028-35, the so-called Multiannual Financial Framework or MFF. A big increase is proposed in the Commission’s first draft, and this has been met with the ritual […]