How to cut the cost of living

When it comes to helping working people, a tax cut to hand would be the cancellation of the Health and Social Care Levy.

Jonathan Werran: Levelling up. Is Gove poised to mimic his academies programme and bypass local authorities?

The fourth part of a ConHome series this week on Levelling Up as the Government’s White Paper nears publication.

Bim Afolami: Get ready for interest rates to rise – with all the shock to homeowners, families and borrowers that will follow

We should never forget the millions of people who are “just about managing” – they will find it harder to budget over the next few months.

David Willetts: If we’re to have less migration into Britain – and more productivity – we must move around more within it

We are the party of mobility and enterprise. But we are also the party of community and belonging. What is it to be – roots or wings?

Ryan Bourne: Cut immigration to raise wages? If only it were all so simple.

Pay is a business cost and, in reaction, profit-seeking firms will raise prices, cut worker benefits, slash services, or leave the sector if profits are squeezed.

Sympathy for Sunak

The Chancellor is damned if he yields to backbenchers’ demands for bailouts – and damned if he doesn’t.

Richard Holden: Why are we still shackled by EU rules that force investment abroad?

Essentially, the Solvency 2 regulations make it difficult for our pensions and insurance firms to invest in long-term, secure, fixed assets in the UK.

David Gauke: Johnson’s party is more socially conservative, populist and economically interventionist. But how much?

There is evidence, however, that suggests that the move to abandoning all recent Tory traditions is not quite so straightforward.

Damian Green: Wage-price spirals. Cost-push inflation. A brief guide to 1970s economic jargon. It may come in useful.

I thought it would be useful to pass on some phrases that have fallen into disuse, but might be needed again if the authorities don’t get their act together.

What lower immigration?

The Prime Minister’s economic strategy seems to depend on it staying low. But there’s no reason to believe that this will be the case.

A tale of two conferences – and the start of overdue debate about our economic future

The auditorium may be dull but the fringe is not – as questions from our past haunt the future, such as: will the productivity gains come?

Interview with Kwasi Kwarteng: “My job is to make us not lose sight of the fact that we are Conservatives”

He says that road haulage interests are trying to revive the pre-Brexit economy – but that the Government will stand firm for higher wages.

Bim Afolami: After the reshuffle, back to the future – NHS queues, rising energy bills, and higher prices

For all the focus elsewhere, the most important domestic department for the next two years will be the Department of Health.

John Redwood: Lorries, Brexit – and the truth about how to keep on trucking

Why is it that those on the Right who urge higher pay are vilified, while the Left applauds a low pay model for the economy?

Andrew Griffith: Unpick the triple lock – because it’s unfair for pensioners to gain from the misfortunes of others

Our manifesto couldn’t reasonably be expected to predict the freak consequences of Covid in terms of rapid wage growth.