Andrew Lilico

Richard Hughes has resigned over the OBR releasing its key budget report – the Economic and Fiscal Outlook – 45 minutes before the Budget, thus pre-empting the Budget's announcements. This has a classy old-school feel to it. Famously, Hugh Dalton, Clement Attlee's Chancellor from 1945 onwards, resigned in 1947 for a passing remark to a journalist as he walked into the House of Commons to deliver his Budget speech.

None of us likes to be interrupted during mating season. But few of us have the stamina to require being left alone for six whole months.

Adam Smith has written an interesting piece in these pages headlined “ Farage's plot to abolish the OBR shows Reform is not a serious party ”. He argues a number of points: that Farage is wrong to claim the OBR dictates policy to elected politicians; that the Treasury is not well-placed to judge the impacts of spending or tax measures because it answers to a politician, the Chancellor; that countries with independent fiscal policy watchdogs like the OBR combined with clear fiscal rules enjoy lower borrowing costs; and hence that Farage's proposal to abolish the OBR shows Reform still has some way to go to be a serious proposition for government.

The latest monthly borrowing figures, out this morning, again showed that the economic picture for Britain is a grim one.

On Friday, the Iranians announced that they are now allowing free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. But, crucially, the US blockade of Iranian vessels remains in place.

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. With food inflation set to rise sharply in response to the cost pressures created by the war with

For thousands of years, governments have been tempted to respond to inflationary pressures by imposing caps on prices. Diocletian’s AD 301 Edict on Maximum

It's been announced that the energy price cap will rise by over £220 in July to £1,862 for a typical household . That is the cap that will apply through the summer, when bills tend to be lower.

One of the less controversial Blair-era retreads Alan Milburn was commissioned in November 2025 to understand the drivers of the recent increase

One of the less controversial Blair-era retreads Alan Milburn was commissioned in November 2025 to understand the drivers of the recent increase there had been in the number of young people who were “not in education, employment or training” (the so-called Neets), to explore why there has been, in particular, a rise in young people with health and disability challenges, and to make policy recommendations.