Larry Elliott

2 days ago | theguardian.com | Larry Elliott

Sir Keir Starmer is pledging to make Britain “battle-ready” by spending billions of pounds on arms factories, drones and submarines. Rachel Reeves says she will invest £15bn in trams, buses and trains for towns and cities outside London. The announcements by the prime minister and chancellor followed last month’s partial U-turn on the means testing of pensioners’ winter fuel allowance. Anyone could be forgiven for thinking the tough times were over and that money was now no object.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Larry Elliott

Ask any one of the 187 female Labour MPs whether they would have made it to the House of Commons without an education and you would probably get short shrift. Most would wax lyrical about their school days and the teachers who taught and inspired them. Yet the government of which those women make up almost half the total number of MPs is now targeting spending on “education and gender” for cuts in the overseas aid budget. It is beyond depressing.

3 weeks ago | newstatesman.com | Larry Elliott

It’s been billed as the “big Brexit reset”. On 19 May, Keir Starmer’s government will sit down with Brussels in a fresh negotiation of UK-EU relations. In fact, discussions have reportedly already begun. And while some of the issues under debate are post-Brexit priorities – deepening defence collaboration for instance – issues such as cross-border trade and youth mobility visas will also feature.

4 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Larry Elliott

I get it. That was Sir Keir Starmer’s reaction as the inquest began into last week’s election victories for Reform UK, and for sure there are many lessons to be learned. Voters are unhappy with the government’s record. The Conservative brand is still toxic. Nigel Farage is a force to be reckoned with. But perhaps the biggest lesson is that class still matters in politics.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Larry Elliott

Poor Rachel Reeves. The economy is weak. Government borrowing has just come in higher than expected. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its forecasts for UK growth. And to cap it all, she is trying to get the arch-protectionist Donald Trump to lower tariffs on British exports as part of a UK-US trade deal. Being chancellor of the exchequer is a tough gig, but nobody told her it would be this tough.