Frank's Westminster Blog

To balance the national accounts, taxes will have to go up and public expenditure will have to come down. Both changes offer huge opportunities to radicals. The necessary tax increases should be used to move our tax system from being, at best, proportional, to become more progressive. Similarly, cuts in public expenditure should concentrate the mind on what key reforms would most significantly change our society for the better. I have outlined before how I believe a radical pension...

The potential threat facing the country is as great as the actual one was in 1940. The country needs to be roused to the challenge that faces it. In 1940, Churchill did not offer the country ‘blood, toil, tears and sweat' to then postpone efforts until after an election. He asked for an immediate coming together of the best sides of the nation. Today the country cannot be roused to the huge financial challenge it faces if the two main parties duck and tell us that they'll be back once

The key issue that has bugged me since the Northern Rock bust up has been whether there have been enough money lenders out there, with enough money, to buy up the shed-loads of debt the Government is going to shovel out into the market. At long last, thankfully, in the last couple of days, one or two members of the commentariat have begun to join the discussion. During this year the Government will be looking for £175bn of new debt on to which it will reschedule some past debt, giving

St. George's Day, falling today, will not be officially celebrated. It would be farcical if it were, as governments seem to do all they can to deny our national character. It will of course be celebrated in the hearts of millions of loyal English men and women. Some of these men and women come from old stock. Others have newly arrived to make their lives in a land of their choice. What sort of land do we now have? The present government thinks it is doing us a favour by endlessly...

At a few minutes to one o'clock today the country's fate passed from the Chancellor and was cast on the waters of the money markets. Public borrowing will be £175bn this year and £173bn the following year. From the very start of the crisis the Government has consistently underrated its severity. Even so, Britain will proportionately be borrowing more than any other G8 country. Are the funds out there to meet the colossal requirements of G8 countries? Where do we rate in the...