Latest news with #LiamHalligan
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mel Stride: Reform is not offering the public a realistic economic deal
' There is a deep, dangerous fiscal irresponsibility at the heart of the offer that Reform has' On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player below, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson speak to Mel Stride, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, who warns of growing economic threats from both the Left and the populist Right. Speaking ahead of his speech today, Mr Stride outlines where he sees the fiscal threat from Reform and why he doesn't believe they will be effective. 'It appears that they are whatever kind of party they think will appeal to what people want to hear in different parts of the country and across the political spectrum. This is a party that, on the one hand, likes to talk about lowering taxes, and on the other hand wants to increase welfare spending, with the abolition of the two child benefit cap.' 'These tax cuts are there right across the board and where they can apparently find the money very quickly, but none of it is realistic.' In regards to Labour, Mr Stride lays out where he believes they have caused economic damage; ' The reality is this government's economic policy, which has included putting up National Insurance on employers, that cost has been passed on by way of higher prices has also fuelled inflation. 'It has also had a devastating consequence on the servicing costs of our national debt. We are now spending, on servicing costs on our national debt alone, about a hundred billion pounds, which is twice what we spend on defence. Those kinds of levels of spending and pressure on the public finances can be laid very squarely at the door of Rachel Reeves.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Are we hearing the death rattle of woke?
On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player below, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson discuss the economic tensions across the Labour Party and speak to stand up comedian, and free speech champion, Andrew Doyle about his latest book, The End of Woke. 'So many seismic moments have occurred over the last couple of years, which have really accelerated what I think is the death of woke. You've got Donald Trump signing this slew of executive orders, many of which are about preserving women's rights. And at the same time, you've had the stripping back of DEI policies throughout the corporate sector.' 'The Economist did a study about this, which I quote in the book, about how wokeness really kicked off in 2015, peaked around 2020 and has been declining ever since. And that decline as far as I can see is now pretty much terminal.' 'Arch-Leftists... have been taking their pronouns out of their social-media bios. Just doing it on the quiet, not making too much of a fuss about it. I would say this all suggests that woke is dying in its current form.''The title of the book, the End of Woke, there's a kind of implied question mark there, but also it's an aspiration rather than a prophecy. I'm not positioning myself as a Nostradamus figure but I think all the signs are there. We can hear all the death rattles' Elsewhere in the podcast, as the spending review looms on the horizon, Labour is trying to hold off pressure from Reform by being seen to roll back on winter fuel payments and the two child benefit cap, brought in by the Conservatives. Liam is concerned Reform would be falling into an easy trap to promise more spending; 'There's something happening in British politics where spending pledges are now being thrown about like confetti. Reform are now going to start trading spending pledges with Starmer, who is very much to the Left of his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and could scapegoat her.' Allison sees a future under Reform where the party supports families again; 'In Farage's speech he talked about making the family a more important element in British life, and tax breaks for married couples. Because as we know, if mum or indeed dad, but often it's mum, elects to stay home and spend more time with the children, a couple is really penalised compared to a couple where both work.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Andrew Griffith: We need a UK DOGE to cut government spending
'We do need a scythe like exercise to push back on some of this level of regulation' On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player above, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson speak to Andrew Griffith, Shadow Business and Trade Secretary, about the economic outlook for the UK following Labour's recent economic policy announcements, and whether the country would benefit from a DOGE, Elon Musk's cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. The Conservative MP for Arundel and South Downs says 'my old fashioned view is the job of every minister in their department is to deliver value for money and spend money wisely as if it's your own,' but did go on to say 'whether you institutionalise it as DOGE or have a separate unit in the cabinet office, I would certainly, on day one, have a very ambitious program of restoring lines of demographic accountability.' Griffith, who has previously worked as CFO and COO for Sky, believes we have too many regulators, which stymies new business, 'The clock speed of the UK economy is just painful. We all know it takes so long to build infrastructure projects. It takes a long time to get clearance for a business merger. I want a new generation of entrepreneurs.' 'They have got smart ideas and they are ambitious. Many of them are leaving and going to other countries overseas. A little bit of movement is not a bad thing, but when people feel they are pushed out because of crime, the cost of living, housing or just facing a higher-margin tax rate, if they succeed, that is something I think should upset everybody.' 'When these people leave [the county] everybody is poorer. The people who stay behind have to pay either more tax or there is just less money to go round for our public services. Planet Normal, a weekly Telegraph podcast featuring news and views from beyond the bubble. Listen on the audio player above or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The dam of ‘woke' tyranny has finally been broken by the Supreme Court
On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player above, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson discuss the Supreme Court ruling that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act referred to biological sex, not acquired gender. Having covered this topic many times in her columns, Allison gives her view on why the case had to be brought to the public's attention; 'I think we've been under a kind of maligned spell… an aggressive trans movement bullying and cowing institutions... How many politicians have dreaded the question: What is a woman?' Allison also adds that 'as a words person', a large concern for her is the 'perversion of language,' saying ' we have mothers in some NHS trusts referred to as 'birthing persons'... this unbelievably ugly, cumbersome language, which is like a cage that's put over the truth. Well now the truth can breathe again.' Liam highlights the role of a few determined campaigners, including Maya Forstater and Helen Joyce, who stood firm when faced with backlash in the media, 'The political and media class has massively failed during this debate… while ordinary people have suffered.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Planet Normal: Robert Jenrick was right to reject ‘two-tier justice' by the Sentencing Council
'No mitigating factors for you if you're white, straight, or Christian, or indeed part of the British majority' On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player above, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson discuss the concerns raised by the Shadow Justice Secretary regarding sentencing guidelines. Britain's justice system and police force are under scrutiny, with concerns about a two-tier legal framework and a crackdown on free speech. Allison condemned the Sentencing Council's now-withdrawn proposal for special considerations, 'This council was basically about to destroy equality before the law introducing special consideration by judges for certain protected characteristics. And that meant that they were going to ask for pre-sentencing reports if a defendant was from an ethnic minority group or a particular religious or sexual group.' In regards to the police Liam believes the College of Policing should be abolished, 'It is insane what the police are doing with taxpayers money, spending their time ticking little boxes saying they've solved crimes because they have called people out on social media.' 'Our police do get quite a hard time from the media, I think sometimes they deserve it, but I think regular rank and file coppers are decent people. What are cops saying in private when they're sitting in their cars, outside people's houses who've been a bit fruity on social media, going into them, maybe even arresting them. They must be sitting there saying to each other, 'this is mad.'' Elsewhere Allison speaks to Ray Connolly about the sentencing of his wife Lucy, for a tweet she briefly posted on the day of the Southport murders. Planet Normal, a weekly Telegraph podcast featuring news and views from beyond the bubble. Listen on the audio player above or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
