Ainsley Thomson @Ainsley_Thomson With manufacturing and construction PMIs also performing strongly, the UK composite PMI is now the highest since records begun in 1998
UK economics and political reporter at Dow Jones Newswires & @WSJ.
Paul Goodman @PaulGoodmanCH Best stat from @sundersays's fine WWI piece on @ConHome today is that 7% of under 24s think Thatcher was PM in 1918. bit.ly/1b5YIbq
Questions to be answered By the Scottish Government How would the Scottish Government’s preferred currency option (the pound) function in the light of the UK Government’s stated position and what contingency plans exist if the UK Government does not agree?
What plans has the Scottish Government for financial infrastructure, financial regulation, taxation policy and consumer protection?
How will independence affect the legal system, those who use it and the legal profession?
What share of assets and liabilities does the Scottish Government believe it should assume?
By the UK Government What share of assets and liabilities would they want the Scottish Government to assume?
I've looked into the Runes and I can tell you Lynton will survive and will mastermind not only Camerons re-election with a small majority in 2015 and Boris's landslide general election win in 2019. :O
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
With manufacturing and construction PMIs also performing strongly, the UK composite PMI is now the highest since records begun in 1998
Ed Balls getting every call wrong at the start of this year
"In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Mr Balls said: ....
This is the Osborne-Cameron way, it's reckless. They are taking the most reckless political gamble with the economy, for political reasons, and it's not paid off. It's been economically catastrophic."
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
Owen seems to be attacking the OGH-tim theory of always to early too bring out policies or at least principles - who is right ?
This time on jobs with the publication of the Reed Jobs Index for July.
The latest Reed Job Index, which is compiled using data from around 150,000 vacancies and over 10,000 employers advertised on reed.co.uk, showed that July 2013 is up 17% year on year, while job opportunities in the construction and property sector increased by 92% on July 2012.
Growth has been steady throughout 2013, with the July Job Index six points higher than the year to date average (155). Other sectors which showed substantial increases year on year were training (62%), education (51%) and leisure and tourism (51%).
For the second consecutive month Scotland had the greatest growth in new job opportunities year on year, up 35% on July 2012. This level of growth is closely followed by Yorkshire and Humber (29%) and the North West (22%).
Overall, the Job Index from reed.co.uk – the UK’s largest job site – now stands at 161, up from 138 at the beginning of the year.
Thanks everyone so far for the suggestions. I note @AnotherDave suggestion of Conn Iggulden's books. I have read Emperor and I am half way through the series on Genghis Khan. @JackW the Churchill books sound great, but I have now gone all early 21st century and have a Kindle, so I am not sure they are in that format yet!
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
Owen seems to be attacking the OGH-tim theory of always to early too bring out policies or at least principles - who is right ?
It's not just about policies, it's about Ed's (and labours) principles and broad strokes.
They could have policies, for example nationalisation of the railways, or living wage/ large minimum wage increases. No way things like that would be nicked by other parties..
I don't think Owen is an idiot - he clearly isn't - I find his desire to pretend we live in Billy Elliottland rather odd and his politics juvenile but at least he sticks by his opinions.
There's been a trend for Labourites frustrated by EdM to speak out or stay conspicuously silent. We've had Mudie [first man to call for getting rid of Tony] having his 2p, another MP following his lead and a wealth of leftier voices joining in from the chatterati.
Where is Hattie and Balls and ... ? Mr Hodges noted that EdM had no Praetorian guard, I think he's being proven right. IIRC Saqid Khan was the best of the Shadow Cabinet wheeled out.
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
This time on jobs with the publication of the Reed Jobs Index for July.
The latest Reed Job Index, which is compiled using data from around 150,000 vacancies and over 10,000 employers advertised on reed.co.uk, showed that July 2013 is up 17% year on year, while job opportunities in the construction and property sector increased by 92% on July 2012.
Growth has been steady throughout 2013, with the July Job Index six points higher than the year to date average (155). Other sectors which showed substantial increases year on year were training (62%), education (51%) and leisure and tourism (51%).
For the second consecutive month Scotland had the greatest growth in new job opportunities year on year, up 35% on July 2012. This level of growth is closely followed by Yorkshire and Humber (29%) and the North West (22%).
Overall, the Job Index from reed.co.uk – the UK’s largest job site – now stands at 161, up from 138 at the beginning of the year.
time for tim to become a Scottish Estate Agent.
What's the long-term average for that index, just vaguely, do you know?
Several months ago I forecast (guessed) that interest rates would start to rise in January. I still don't think that is far off. It won't be much but my guess is there will be 3 or 4 0.25% rises during the course of next year.
The PMIs are fantastic but all of them point to capacity restraints. It is inevitable that this spurt of growth is going to be accompanied by higher inflation. This will be a problem by the end of this year and into next. Inflation is another price we will have to pay for the debt.
The fact that the economy has stubbornly remained flat on its back for 4 years now should not obscure the fact that throughout that period under both governments the UK (and most of the rest of the west) have been running the loosest, most pro-growth policies in history with record low interest rates, the printing of £375bn of extra money, huge deficits and a weak currency.
When things start to go in that scenario things should really go despite the huge drag of debt. The economy, and the political scene, is going to look very different by early next year. Labour run the risk that by the time they get the falling living standards meme going it will already be untrue. Once again it rather raises the question of where they have been all summer.
That's actually a pretty devastating article. Leaving aside the question of whether one agrees with Owen Jones' politics, it's hard to disagree with his analysis of Ed M's messaging:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
Owen seems to be attacking the OGH-tim theory of always to early too bring out policies or at least principles - who is right ?
It's not just about policies, it's about Ed's (and labours) principles and broad strokes.
They could have policies, for example nationalisation of the railways, or living wage/ large minimum wage increases. No way things like that would be nicked by other parties..
Labour don't seem to be able to give up the "something for nothing" culture - that is the cancer at their heart.
"how british marketing is one of the best in the world is beyond me. We ape US sales push, british marketing is simply a me too product."
The international Awards have been dominated by the UK and the US for years. One or two European countries notably Holland have put up a showing lately but what originality there has been has come from South America. Germany's first 'Lion' for several years was won for Mercedes but even there they used a British Director. (Modesty forbids me from mentioning him!)
I see a lot of people saw the Conservative PPB from Top Gear last night!
UK TV Ratings @TVRatingsUK 8pm (inc +1 in brackets): Countryfile 5.62m; Top Gear 4.68m; Mr and Mrs 3.36m (3.63m); The Mill 1.98m (2.28m); Once Upon a Time 711k (819k).
As to space capacity, DavidL, I'm not sure. The IFS say this:
Most commentators agree that the best approach is to use a range of different indicators to try to proxy the level of spare capacity. But these indicators do not always corroborate one another. For example, labour market data suggest that the UK has a significant amount of spare capacity, with the unemployment rate around 3ppts higher than pre-recession levels and earnings growth very muted despite inflation having been persistently high. Yet business survey results appear to tell a markedly different story, with respondents reporting levels of capacity utilisation in the production industries that are above long-term average... a recent working paper found that estimates of the output gap have become progressively more prone to revision and ‘unreliable’ over time"
I would be tempted to say something rather different. Normally a large rise in unemployment, and productivity, in a period of recession, indicates a large degree of space capacity. Neither has happened. But I think it would be a mistake to think that what we've replaced it does not indicate such spare capacity. Therefore I am rather more optimistic about inflation in the next couple of years.
Meanwhile....in France: Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Ouch. From TopGear last night - apparently the Nissan plant in Washington makes more cars than all of Italy...
Didn't know you are a petrolhead!
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
Oh, I used to love TG before it got a bit silly - I used to be a classic car nerd and do the shows/Goodwood Festivals etc. I had a concours Triumph Spitfire and a GT6 all restored by me and hubby.
Interesting lead article from the Huff about Britain's seaside towns becoming 'dumping grounds' for councils seeking cheap accommodation for claimants (Blackpool, Margate, Clacton and a few others are cited).
Are these demographic movements significant enough to change the electoral shake-up in these areas I wonder?
I see a lot of people saw the Conservative PPB from Top Gear last night!
I hope everybody who knocks the BBC for leftist bias will remember this comment....
TBF, Jeremy was very ****ed off that BBC2 followed his festival of British motoring with a documentary praising the German car industry... his Twitter account is worth checking.
Meanwhile....in France: Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Ouch. From TopGear last night - apparently the Nissan plant in Washington makes more cars than all of Italy...
Didn't know you are a petrolhead!
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
Oh, I used to love TG before it got a bit silly - I used to be a classic car nerd and do the shows/Goodwood Festivals etc. I had a concours Triumph Spitfire and a GT6 all restored by me and hubby.
Did you ever go to the Goodwood Ball at Festival of Speed?
Agree TG has got a bit silly, prefer May and Clarkson on their own.
Lord Palmerston @Lord_Palmerston .@ChukaUmunna Figures from UNISON tell us 0-hours contracts tripled under Labour. Where was your indignation then? bit.ly/15GMDXZ
Meanwhile....in France: Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Ouch. From TopGear last night - apparently the Nissan plant in Washington makes more cars than all of Italy...
Didn't know you are a petrolhead!
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
Oh, I used to love TG before it got a bit silly - I used to be a classic car nerd and do the shows/Goodwood Festivals etc. I had a concours Triumph Spitfire and a GT6 all restored by me and hubby.
Did you ever go to the Goodwood Ball at Festival of Speed?
Agree TG has got a bit silly, prefer May and Clarkson on their own.
Never did but I had a friend who resembled May and penned Kofi's Tokyo speech as a host once - we were legless and like space hoppers after a day of Cliquot and lobster.
As to space capacity, DavidL, I'm not sure. The IFS say this:
Most commentators agree that the best approach is to use a range of different indicators to try to proxy the level of spare capacity. But these indicators do not always corroborate one another. For example, labour market data suggest that the UK has a significant amount of spare capacity, with the unemployment rate around 3ppts higher than pre-recession levels and earnings growth very muted despite inflation having been persistently high. Yet business survey results appear to tell a markedly different story, with respondents reporting levels of capacity utilisation in the production industries that are above long-term average... a recent working paper found that estimates of the output gap have become progressively more prone to revision and ‘unreliable’ over time"
I would be tempted to say something rather different. Normally a large rise in unemployment, and productivity, in a period of recession, indicates a large degree of space capacity. Neither has happened. But I think it would be a mistake to think that what we've replaced it does not indicate such spare capacity. Therefore I am rather more optimistic about inflation in the next couple of years.
Measuring output gaps has always been problematic and has become increasingly so since services dominated the economy. What we are seeing already in construction and manufacturing is a run down of stocks and an increase in employment. These are both good things, no doubt about it, but when companies who have struggled under their own version of austerity for years now see the order book fill prices will inevitably creep up.
Similarly, if we return to real wage growth (something I suspect has happened already amongst those with the right skills but which will spread) the pressures on retail will be reduced too.
For monetarists the last 5 years have been bewildering. Has all this stimulus really been just offsetting deflationary forces? What is clear is that this has been a full contact sport between two large and opposing forces. If that balance changes only modestly the results could be dramatic.
Meanwhile....in France: Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Ouch. From TopGear last night - apparently the Nissan plant in Washington makes more cars than all of Italy...
Didn't know you are a petrolhead!
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
Oh, I used to love TG before it got a bit silly - I used to be a classic car nerd and do the shows/Goodwood Festivals etc. I had a concours Triumph Spitfire and a GT6 all restored by me and hubby.
Did you ever go to the Goodwood Ball at Festival of Speed?
Agree TG has got a bit silly, prefer May and Clarkson on their own.
Never did but I had a friend who resembled May and penned Kofi's Tokyo speech as a host once - we were legless and like space hoppers after a day of Cliquot and lobster.
I see CCHQ are having great fun with that Owen Jones article
CCHQ Press Office @RicHolden Labour favourite, Owen Jones, on the Labour front bench: "The Shadow Cabinet appears to have made a vow of collective silence."
Just catching up with some polls re. Lib Dem activists last week. Most of them think the coalition is doing a good job, but if the Lib Dems fail to win a majority next time(!) only about 13% would want another coalition with the Tories, about 3x as many prefer a deal with Labour.
Meanwhile....in France: Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Ouch. From TopGear last night - apparently the Nissan plant in Washington makes more cars than all of Italy...
Didn't know you are a petrolhead!
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
Oh, I used to love TG before it got a bit silly - I used to be a classic car nerd and do the shows/Goodwood Festivals etc. I had a concours Triumph Spitfire and a GT6 all restored by me and hubby.
Did you ever go to the Goodwood Ball at Festival of Speed?
Agree TG has got a bit silly, prefer May and Clarkson on their own.
Mrs J and I got gifted some free tickets to the Festival of Speed three years ago, including some pass-only events. I was a bit reluctant to take her with me because she is about as far from a petrolhead as it is possible to get, but she loved it.
Indeed, she says she wants to go again. But only if we get some more free tickets. ;-)
As for TG: it isn't about cars any more. It's entertainment using cars as a theme. And it is mostly very good entertainment if you are willing to put your brain into neutral.
It's also good to see people unashamedly boasting about our engineering prowess as a country. Too few people do.
Comments
@Ainsley_Thomson
With manufacturing and construction PMIs also performing strongly, the UK composite PMI is now the highest since records begun in 1998
UK economics and political reporter at Dow Jones Newswires & @WSJ.
Best stat from @sundersays's fine WWI piece on @ConHome today is that 7% of under 24s think Thatcher was PM in 1918. bit.ly/1b5YIbq
Here's The Law Society of Scotland's paper you'd do anything to avoid discussing:
http://www.lawscot.org.uk/media/647741/scotlands constitutional future 2013_main.pdf
A few questions on currency too:
Ed Miliband toys with a concept, but then appears to get bored with it and moves on. There was the “squeezed middle”, a flawed concept, but one which at least tapped into the longest fall in living standards on record. There was the “British promise”, which focused on the nation’s children being poorer than their parents for the first time since the Second World War. There was “responsible capitalism” – a term I happen to hate – which speaks of predatory capitalists ripping society off. There was “predistribution”, an appallingly wonky term which needed translating into English, but which meant that the consequences of inequality were expensive, so it was better to deal with the causes. Whatever the problems with these messages, at least they were something.
In fact, the list is far from complete. There was 'one-nation Labour'. There was 'refounding Labour'. The messaging on Osborne's spending cuts has veered randomly from opposing everything to accepting everything.
Ed Balls getting every call wrong at the start of this year
"In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Mr Balls said: ....
This is the Osborne-Cameron way, it's reckless. They are taking the most reckless political gamble with the economy, for political reasons, and it's not paid off. It's been economically catastrophic."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ed-balls-pressure-grows-for-plan-b-as-triple-dip-threatens-8468379.html
This time on jobs with the publication of the Reed Jobs Index for July.
The latest Reed Job Index, which is compiled using data from around 150,000 vacancies and over 10,000 employers advertised on reed.co.uk, showed that July 2013 is up 17% year on year, while job opportunities in the construction and property sector increased by 92% on July 2012.
Growth has been steady throughout 2013, with the July Job Index six points higher than the year to date average (155). Other sectors which showed substantial increases year on year were training (62%), education (51%) and leisure and tourism (51%).
For the second consecutive month Scotland had the greatest growth in new job opportunities year on year, up 35% on July 2012. This level of growth is closely followed by Yorkshire and Humber (29%) and the North West (22%).
Overall, the Job Index from reed.co.uk – the UK’s largest job site – now stands at 161, up from 138 at the beginning of the year.
time for tim to become a Scottish Estate Agent.
They could have policies, for example nationalisation of the railways, or living wage/ large minimum wage increases. No way things like that would be nicked by other parties..
Open Europe @OpenEurope 3m
French Services PMI (Jul F) M/M 48.6 vs. Exp. 48.3 (Prev. 48.3) (@RANsquawk)
I can't wait for Ed to introduce Hollande type policies so we can have powerful figures like that....
Also, Mike, "private meeting". "Entire strategy leaked". At least one person in the room responsible for headlines. Something's not what it seems.
There's been a trend for Labourites frustrated by EdM to speak out or stay conspicuously silent. We've had Mudie [first man to call for getting rid of Tony] having his 2p, another MP following his lead and a wealth of leftier voices joining in from the chatterati.
Where is Hattie and Balls and ... ? Mr Hodges noted that EdM had no Praetorian guard, I think he's being proven right. IIRC Saqid Khan was the best of the Shadow Cabinet wheeled out.
The PMIs are fantastic but all of them point to capacity restraints. It is inevitable that this spurt of growth is going to be accompanied by higher inflation. This will be a problem by the end of this year and into next. Inflation is another price we will have to pay for the debt.
The fact that the economy has stubbornly remained flat on its back for 4 years now should not obscure the fact that throughout that period under both governments the UK (and most of the rest of the west) have been running the loosest, most pro-growth policies in history with record low interest rates, the printing of £375bn of extra money, huge deficits and a weak currency.
When things start to go in that scenario things should really go despite the huge drag of debt. The economy, and the political scene, is going to look very different by early next year. Labour run the risk that by the time they get the falling living standards meme going it will already be untrue. Once again it rather raises the question of where they have been all summer.
"how british marketing is one of the best in the world is beyond me. We ape US sales push, british marketing is simply a me too product."
The international Awards have been dominated by the UK and the US for years. One or two European countries notably Holland have put up a showing lately but what originality there has been has come from South America. Germany's first 'Lion' for several years was won for Mercedes but even there they used a British Director. (Modesty forbids me from mentioning him!)
Yup, that's certainly an example of the leaden, nationality-based, English sense of humour that's the antithesis of wit.
'The adjective or noun Scotch is an early modern English (16th century) contraction of the English word Scottish.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYtYBI6eZ3E
I really would like him to explain how these PMI figures are possible without the engine of state spending...
Australia have declared.
UK TV Ratings @TVRatingsUK
8pm (inc +1 in brackets): Countryfile 5.62m; Top Gear 4.68m; Mr and Mrs 3.36m (3.63m); The Mill 1.98m (2.28m); Once Upon a Time 711k (819k).
I'd still prefer a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati or even an Alfa to a Nissan.
RT @BenM_Kent: #UK #PMIs confirm economic recovery is at last under way
I hope everybody who knocks the BBC for leftist bias will remember this comment....
Where's tim btw ?
Are these demographic movements significant enough to change the electoral shake-up in these areas I wonder?
Its Director is James Bethell. A man tinvolved with this pro-EC org headed up by Ken Clarke and Mandelson.
http://britishinfluence.org/europewatch-summary-articles/item/james-bethell
http://britishinfluence.org/the-future-of-europe-forum
A man who previously worked at the Sunday Times and with Politics Home (owned by Ashcroft). Ashcroft opposed Crosby' s appointment.
Anyone able to join the dots?
Populus @PopulusPolls
New Populus VI figures: Lab 38 (↓2); Cons 33 (↑4); LD 12 (↑1); UKIP 9 (↓3); Oth 8 (↑1)
Agree TG has got a bit silly, prefer May and Clarkson on their own.
.@ChukaUmunna Figures from UNISON tell us 0-hours contracts tripled under Labour. Where was your indignation then? bit.ly/15GMDXZ
I have no idea how we got home.
Measuring output gaps has always been problematic and has become increasingly so since services dominated the economy. What we are seeing already in construction and manufacturing is a run down of stocks and an increase in employment. These are both good things, no doubt about it, but when companies who have struggled under their own version of austerity for years now see the order book fill prices will inevitably creep up.
Similarly, if we return to real wage growth (something I suspect has happened already amongst those with the right skills but which will spread) the pressures on retail will be reduced too.
For monetarists the last 5 years have been bewildering. Has all this stimulus really been just offsetting deflationary forces? What is clear is that this has been a full contact sport between two large and opposing forces. If that balance changes only modestly the results could be dramatic.
Is probably looking after the new baby. And quite right too.
So last one with an 11% Lab lead was an outlier?
As normal, he looks a bit foolish now sprouting that drivel last week.
CCHQ Press Office @RicHolden
Labour favourite, Owen Jones, on the Labour front bench: "The Shadow Cabinet appears to have made a vow of collective silence."
They may go it alone on plain ciggy packaging and minimum alcohol pricing.
Work that one out.
Indeed, she says she wants to go again. But only if we get some more free tickets. ;-)
As for TG: it isn't about cars any more. It's entertainment using cars as a theme. And it is mostly very good entertainment if you are willing to put your brain into neutral.
It's also good to see people unashamedly boasting about our engineering prowess as a country. Too few people do.
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/ex-thatcher-aide-immigration-‘tories-are-racist’