NHS reform, an accident waiting to happen
Something has to give, and it will be the quality of front-line care, whether through rising waiting times, hospital closures or rationing of expensive drugs and treatments, writes Philip Stephens
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Business chiefs demand clarity on growth
CBI conference seeks ‘more meat on the bones’ on priorities for resources, the removal of barriers and incentives for private sector growth
UK’s detailed cuts set it apart from EU
Coalition’s deficit-cutting policies are almost as radical as those pursued by some of Britain’s struggling eurozone neighbours – but they differ in the detail
Treasury to retain £20bn in unspent funding
Government departments are to be deprived of billions originally allocated by Labour for use on public services under a ‘spend it or lose it’’ system that allowed for unspent cash to be claimed in succeeding years
Green bank plan to make spring debut
Full details of the UK coalition’s plan for a green investment bank will be set out next spring, the Treasury said, as it outlined a national infrastructure plan
Town halls set out to plug pensions gap
Local authorities are considering securitising assets for the first time to plug pension-fund gaps and ease cash flow constraints that have tightened in the wake of last week’s spending review
Cameron attacked as charities face cuts
The prime minister has been accused of ‘pulling the rug from under’ his own Big Society agenda by the chairman of the Charity Commission as the voluntary sector braces itself for billions of pounds of cuts to funding
Clinton raised concern on World Service cuts
The US secretary of state is said to have raised concern about how the public spending cuts might affect the BBC World Service only days before its funding was transferred from the Foreign Office to the BBC
Unite front runner calls for action on cuts
The favourite to win the leadership of Britain’s most powerful union says strikes over the government’s £81bn spending reductions are inevitable and is calling on the TUC to co-ordinate the fight
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The reality of cuts
Interactive graphic: take a look at the sort of briefing George Osborne will have received, annotated with political strategy from advisers, as he attempts to balance the books in the comprehensive spending review
Comment and analysis
Testing times for university funding
Uncapping fees is the best way for Britain’s world-renowned education system to fulfil its potential. Students would have more choice; universities and private providers would compete on services and price
Mergers among London’s councils
Savings of the scale faced by Britain’s councils cannot be achieved by lopping a little off the budgets of lots of programmes. Local consolidation is radical but necessary
Lazy local councils must act smarter to save more
Radical measures on productivity are needed. For instance, local councils should share services. Every council does not need its own team of lawyers or press officers, writes Eric Pickles
Deficit should be a policy variable
I do not agree with some of my media colleagues that this is the biggest economic policy shift since Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, writes Samuel Brittan
The end of Britain’s post-imperial ambition
Cool Britannia, self-confident globalism and liberal internationalism – all belong to a bygone era, writes Philip Stephens
UK spending review
The government is hoping the sum of many small negatives will be positive
UK cuts its forces
The review has not delivered the new model forces that Britain needs. Many hard choices remain when the next one takes place
Age comes before austerity
Quite why prosperous pensioners deserve their special treatment is unclear to this economist, but no doubt perfectly obvious to the opinion pollsters, writes Tim Harford
Throwing out all bar the kitchen sink
By launching a four-year austerity programme now, George Osborne limits the risk that above-forecast economic growth might recommend Labour’s gentler philosophy, writes Jonathan Guthrie
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