Ross Clark

England

Journalist at Freelance

Freelance Journalist at Daily Mail

Freelance Journalist at Daily Express

Freelance Journalist at The Spectator

Writes for Spectator, Mail, Sun. Author, Far From EUtopia. Also Not Zero, and the Denial

Articles

Three simple ways to stamp out benefits fraud

1 week ago | spectator.com.au | Ross Clark

According to official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, benefits fraud costs the taxpayer £9.5 billion a year. But does anyone really believe it isn’t higher, given the massive rise in people apparently so incapacitated by poor mental health that they are incapable of working? It transpires that Liz Kendall’s efforts to save the taxpayer £5 billion a year will do nothing of the sort.
Three simple ways to stamp out benefits fraud

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

According to official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, benefits fraud costs the taxpayer £9.5 billion a year. But does anyone really believe it isn’t higher, given the massive rise in people apparently so incapacitated by poor mental health that they are incapable of working? It transpires that Liz Kendall’s efforts to save the taxpayer £5 billion a year will do nothing of the sort.
ROSS CLARK: The farce of HS2 shows how Whitehall has allowed waste and fraud to flourish on an industrial scale

1 week ago | dailymail.co.uk | Ross Clark

Year by year, the tale of HS2 grows more wretched. The latest report on the fiasco, by James Stewart, former chief executive of Crossrail, depicts contractors behaving like a gang that tarmacs driveways taking advantage of an octogenarian widow. Endless wheezes have been devised to drive up costs, with HS2 Ltd – the government-owned company set up to handle the project – seemingly too gullible to prevent itself from being ripped off.
The real scandal of HS2

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

As if the saga of HS2 could not get any worse, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will reportedly announce today that, actually, the railway line will not be open by its latest proposed date of 2033, and that 2035 is now more realistic. But I wouldn’t book your ticket just yet. Some analysts believe the line – which is a truncated version of the original proposal, only reaching Birmingham – will not be open for a couple of years or so after that.
The Poundland paradox

1 week ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

‘Poundland sells for a pound’ is one of those stories of which sub-editors dream – not to mention the beleaguered company’s PR department. But irony aside, the news does draw attention to a paradox: why do discount stores seem to suffer more in bad economic times than they do in good times?
The Welfare Bill is too little, too late

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

How much of the government’s Welfare Reform Bill will survive the mauling of backbench Labour MPs? If this bill even achieves £5 billion worth of savings by the time it becomes law, it will be something of a miracle. Once again, Rachel Reeves’ claim to be an ‘Iron Chancellor’ is about to be tested. No-one should be surprised if she folds. This week, the wobbling began.
The deadly curse of influencers

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

What’s the most hazardous occupation? Deep sea fisherman? Uranium miner? Tail-end Charlie in a Lancaster bomber (not a career currently available)? I challenge anyone to find a speedier way to meet one’s end than becoming an influencer.
Why the Air India flight crashed: Expert Julian Bray has advised on the deadliest calamities. Now he examines the footage to reveal 'weird' inconsistencies... and a horrifying possibility | Daily Mail Online

2 weeks ago | dailymail.co.uk | Ross Clark

All plane crashes horrify us at a visceral level – but yesterday’s Air India disaster is in a league of its own. Flying is meant to be the safest form of travel, so when a near-total calamity such as this takes place, it speaks to our darkest fears. These days, of course, videos filmed on mobile phones often compound the terror – and the fate of Flight 171 has been revealed on brief, grainy footage, shared across social media, showing the plane’s slow descent into a gigantic fireball.
Rachel Reeves's Spending Review is a recipe for trouble

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

Rachel Reeves will apparently tell us today that she has chosen stability over chaos. It is one of the Chancellor’s standard lines, but it is very much beyond her control. Bond markets will have the ultimate say. They didn’t much like her Budget in October – indeed, long-term borrowing costs are higher now than they were in the wake of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini Budget in September – and they might not like the spending review much more.
Sizewell C won't save Ed Miliband

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Ross Clark

Ed Miliband has suddenly realised that you cannot run an electricity grid on intermittent renewables alone. The Energy Secretary’s announcement this morning of £14.2 billion worth of funding for a new plant at Sizewell C, together with cash for Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs) and continued research into the holy grail of nuclear fusion, is an admission that energy policy so far has been far too concentrated on wind and solar.