UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
from The Great Debate UK:
Thinking outside the budget-shaped box
- Dave Coplin is national technology editor at Microsoft UK. The opinions expressed are his own.-
The emergency budget was announced recently as a means to tackle the country’s deficit and Britain's current economic situation.
But embracing a new approach to the way we run public- and private-sector organisations will be needed in order to stay competitive in the current market and help to redefine the fundamentals of business in this new environment.
Although Chancellor George Osborne’s budget has been deemed by a few as a “credible plan” for the future of public finances, and is an important step on the long journey back to economic health, we must remember that the economy is still fragile.
Does class matter in politics?
Three big speeches have been delivered at the Conservative Party conference so far — by party leader David Cameron, the mayor of London and national bumbler, Boris Johnson, and the party’s spokesman on the economy, George Osborne.
What do all three men have in common apart from their membership of the Conservative Party? They were all educated at elite public schools (Johnson and Cameron at Eton and Osborne at St Paul’s) and all went to Oxford, where they were members of the same dining and social set, the secretive and selective Bullingdon Club.
Tories keep their powder dry for a 2010 election
Like Labour’s in Birmingham a fortnight ago, the overall tone of the Conservative Party Spring conference in Gateshead this weekend has been pretty low-key.
Tory strategists say they are not expecting an election until 2010 — they argue that Gordon Brown might want an 2009 contest but will be constrained by a deficit in the polls and an economy that in all likelihood will still be reeling from the global credit crunch.
George Osborne and rabbits in hats
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne talks to Tim Castle at the Conservative Spring Conference in Gateshead about the prospect for tax cuts under a future Tory government.
Click on the video below.
Interview: George Osborne on Northern Rock
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne answers criticism that the Tories offered no credible alternative for the rescue of Northern Rock in this interview with Tim Castle at the Conservative Spring Conference at Gateshead.
Click on the video below.
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The Wall
