In last week’s budget the chancellor failed to address the huge economic problems facing the UK. In particular he failed to recognise the impossible situation millions of people around the country are in as they struggle to afford the cost of living. The budget was notable by what was absent. Our analysis revealed £22bn in hidden spending cuts to public services, and pay rises for struggling public sector workers were not even mentioned. Change is possible but this budget didn’t deliver the big solutions the country so desperately needs. We can do better.
Driving us round the bend: another fuel duty freeze Fuel duty has been frozen for the 13th year in a row — but this is an environmentally damaging policy that disproportionately benefits the wealthiest, writes Alex Chapman.
This analysis was also covered in the Daily Mirror.
New Economics podcast: The right to roam 92% of the English countryside is off limits to the public. So who owns our land and how can we reclaim our right to it? Find out on the latest episode of the New Economics podcast as Ayeisha Thomas-Smith is joined by Nadia Shaikh, naturalist, conservationist and land justice activist with Right to Roam, and Frances Northrop, associate fellow at the New Economics Foundation.
Warm This Winter: 1 April mass lobby Millions of us are already struggling to pay our energy bills and from 1 April they’ll be going up by another £67 a month on average. This government must take action to make sure people can keep warm and afford their energy bills. To demand they listen, Warm This Winter are organising a mass lobby of MPs and they want you to get involved.
Households face years-long waits for solar panels, heat pumps and insulation due to retrofitter shortage Chaitanya Kumar was quoted in the i on the UK workforce’s green skills shortage.
UK’s top airports aim to fly 150mn more passengers a year Alex Chapman was quoted in the Financial Times on airport expansion.
EU finance ministers agree on broad outline of new deficit rules Sebastian Mang was quoted in Euractiv on green investment and the EU’s fiscal rules
Banks and insurers may not be ‘sufficiently capitalised’ for future climate-related losses, Bank of England reports Lukasz Krebel was quoted in City AM on the Bank of England’s report on climate risks.
Falling house prices may seem like a good thing — but it’s renters who are paying the price NEF’s proposals on the resocialisation of private housing was in the Guardian.
