Greg Hands MP: It’s three years today of Labour’s deficit-denying, Goodwin-knighting, zero-credibility Shadow Chancellor

Ed Balls is a man trapped by his past. And Ed Miliband is too weak to stand up to him.

Why do politicians insist on ramming credit down small businesses’ throats?

The evidence suggests that SMEs are mostly happy with their financial positions – but still they’re encouraged to borrow, borrow, borrow.

Mark Field MP: Does this year mark the Conservatives’ great missed election opportunity?

If coalition not locked itself into a fixed term, the Tories may well have seen 2014 as a golden opportunity to secure a full mandate from the country.

Osborne backs a rise in the National Minimum Wage – and spikes Miliband’s big day

“When I look at the British economy, I see [it] expanding…I think Britain can afford a higher minimum wage.”

Andrew Lilico: Osborne shows he gets it on the EU, but can he deliver it?

The implication of the Chancellor’s speech today is that, eventually, there will be no place in the EU for the UK or any non-euro member.

WATCH: Osborne – “Europe is falling behind”

Getting the economics right isn’t sufficient to “persuade people of the merits of the EU”, says the Chancellor – but it is necessary.

His speech today confirms it: Osborne is becoming the face of Tory welfare policy

And that ain’t necessarily a good thing. The Tories’ moral mission could be forgotten amid all the talk of cuts.

Andrew Lilico: If you object to welfare cuts or defence cuts, you have to argue for NHS and schools cuts

Why are we proposing to extend into the next Parliament the madness of slashing every budget except the budgets that in the 2000s rose the most?

Osborne has set himself the task of finding every cut he can – so why’s he not doing that?

The Chancellor thinks that leaving pensioner perks untouched is good politics, but it could backfire in numerous ways.

Dan Wilson Craw: Cameron must do more to show that he understands the housing crisis

The Conservatives must show the will to mend a dysfunctional housing market.

WATCH: Osborne – 2014 is a “year of hard truths”

The Chancellor warns against those who “promise easy answers … just more spending on this, and more spending on that” – might he mean Labour?

Osborne tries to define the politics of growth ahead of 2015

The Chancellor’s speech was all about summarising various political messages that he’s broadcast before. He now has more than one eye on the next election.

Why Osborne should cut income taxes for poorer workers first

Cameron and Osborne must target squeezed voters whose household budgeting is constantly challenged by the cost of filling up a car or paying a gas bill.

David Cameron, human shield

Party members blame him for the Government’s problems and credit his Ministers for its successes.

David Cameron and George Osborne versus Ed Balls is Party members’ Scrap of the Year

Our final End of Year Award show that blue-on-red is the new blue-on-blue.