Coffee House Shots13 Feb 2025

The Spectator’s war on government waste

It’s a double celebration for Rachel Reeves today. Not only is it her birthday, but the UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics’ latest report. December, when the economy expanded by 0.4 per cent (the market consensus had been 0.1 per cent), was the saving grace. This helped tip the final quarter of 2024 onto the right side of positive growth.

But it’s not all rosy for the Chancellor. This morning’s update won’t take anyone in the Treasury off high alert, and there has been a development in the story about her CV. The BBC has been looking into her expenses during her time at Halifax bank. The Chancellor’s response is that she had no knowledge that there was an investigation into wrongdoing. Will it be a happy birthday after all?

Elsewhere, it’s a big day at The Spectator. In this week’s issue, we have launched The Spectator Project Against Frivolous Funding (SPAFF). This online tool lets readers explore the wastelands of government procurement contracts, reckless credit card splurges and absurd research grants. Spoiler alert: there’s no shortage of material. Can you find more wasteful funding? Go to: spectator.co.uk/spaff

Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and Michael Simmons.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.

For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(3341)

Andy's Care Plan

It's Wednesday, which means there's another announcement from Downing Street. Yes, another one. Today, Andy Burnham is talking social care, and this time, he wants to build a 'cross-party consensus' t...

29 Juli 10min

Will Burnham find a NEET solution?

It's a day dedicated to the NEETs (again) with the Prime Minister announcing his plans to prevent swathes of future NEETs coming to the fore. With proposals to widen the participation and provenance o...

28 Juli 11min

Andy's intervention on defence

A week on from the start of Andy Burnham's premiership, and Westminster is bracing for another innings of announcements from the government. Among them, after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy today, the PM...

27 Juli 23min

Nick Clegg: my biggest coalition regrets

Tim Shipman is joined by Sir Nick Clegg, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, as part of The Spectator's new event series, Tim Shipman Meets the Party Leaders. Tim cha...

24 Juli 29min

How Reform and the Tories plan to fight Andy Burnham

In the magazine this week, James Heale writes that Kemi Badenoch was in an upbeat mood when she addressed her troops last week. ‘This time last year,’ she told the 1922 Committee, ‘people said Jenrick...

24 Juli 13min

Andy’s promises – who’s paying?

It is day three of Andy Burnham’s premiership, and we have had a tranche of policy announcements and funding commitments. A VAT cut for energy bills, £2 bus fares, and today a business rate cut for pu...

23 Juli 14min

Iain Dale: Standing for Parliament was a 'humiliating experience'

In a busy week for British politics, LBC’s Iain Dale joins Tim Shipman and James Heale to discuss his new book, Have I Said Too Much? Iain speaks frankly about standing as a Conservative candidate at ...

22 Juli 25min

Burnham's northern queens

Appointment into Andy Burnham's new cabinet went late into the evening: Wes Streeting to defence, plus the comeback queens – Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Angela Rayner all into senior posts in govern...

21 Juli 14min