Frank's Blog

I suppose the growth figures could have been worse - but not much worse. The official line claiming that the extra bank holiday for Kate and Will's wedding accounts for the poor results shows how precarious the move out of deep recession is.   Worse, there is no obvious political remedy.   There is no question in my mind that the government's tough talk about cuts in future years has had a stabilising effect on Britain's long-term interest rates. If these rates begin to rise, and...

The public eruption of disgust at News International's operation of hacking the phones of ordinary individuals seems to miss two key aspects of this horrible drama.  The most serious side of it for me is the allegations of police corruption.  Similarly I don't believe it weights properly the influence of the Blair political leadership.  Empires, including media empires, rise and fall.  That law of nature will inevitably apply to the Murdoch empire.   But we...