Pre-Budget report 2009 - Comment
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Editorial: Entente fiscale
Messrs Sarkozy and Brown must not let the bonus tax substitute for co-operation on more important issues, such as resolution regimes for large financial groups
Gillian Tett: Bankers will follow the money
Reasons exist to think London’s role in global finance is being undermined but that reflects more than the bonus news, writes Gillian Tett
Opinion: Prevarication and Newspeak will not fix our finances
The government’s unwillingness to tackle a rising debt burden will raise the risk premium on UK public debt, writes Willem Buiter
Editorial: Route still shrouded in fog
Chancellor took refuge in claiming it would be unwise to set out detailed plans, rather than explain spending priorities and what savings would be generated in the medium term. This is hard to swallow
Philip Stephens: Populism without purpose
Dividing lines are all Gordon Brown’s government has left. It has run out of ideas save arguing that David Cameron’s Conservatives would be worse, writes Philip Stephens
Jonathan Guthrie:Read his lips: more new taxes
The jibe against Labour chancellors is that they always run out of money. The twist provided by Alistair Darling is that having run out of money, he plans to go on spending, writes Jonathan Guthrie
Lombard : Bingo tax and casino tax
Alistair Darling’s Robin Hood measures to curb bankers’ bonuses will sharpen the brutal meritocracy of the 2009-10 bonus season, for bankers, banks and for the UK as a banking centre
Comment: Needed – a clear plan for cutting the deficit
The chancellor’s speech was less an act of populist electioneering than might have been feared, but failed to set out where exactly the cuts will come – especially if growth proves slower than predicted, writes Martin Sandbu
Comment: Most important argument has not begun
The drama of the PBR announcements reflects the current political pressure, but did not open discussions about what the two parties want for the future of Britain, writes Chris Cook
Lex: UK public finances
Despite the red ink stretching as far as government projections can see, markets took the UK’s pre-Budget announcement in their stride
