Skip to main content

Posts

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s plutocrats: money for something | Editorial

The Republicans were always the party of big business, but Mr Trump is turning them into a playpen for oligarchs One person turns up surprisingly often at Donald Trump’s side. Not his No 2, JD Vance, nor his wife, Melania, but another man a quarter-century younger and about $300bn heavier: Elon Musk. The two hunkered down in Mar-a-Lago on the night of the election, celebrating the results. This week they were in Texas, watching Mr Musk’s staff test-launch a spacecraft. During the campaign, Mr Musk personally chipped in $130m , made speeches at rallies and organised campaigns to “get out the vote”. Last week, the world’s richest man was picked by the president-elect to run a new “department of government efficiency”. So close are the pair that Mr Musk dubs himself “First Buddy”. American politics has always been coiled around money, tight as a vine around a trunk. Nearly 25 years ago, George W Bush joked at a swanky white-tie dinner : “Some people call you the elites; I call you my ba
Recent posts

Retailers deserve a break – but they shouldn’t look to the chancellor for one

A letter by 79 firms voicing ‘significant concerns’ over the budget is likely to do little more than irritate Rachel Reeves While the farmers took to the streets of Westminster, the shopkeepers protested in the old-fashioned way. They wrote a polite letter to the chancellor voicing their “significant concerns” over “the sheer scale” of budget measures that, they say, will push up their industry’s costs by £7bn next year and “make job losses inevitable and higher prices a certainty”. A total of 79 firms signed, including all the FTSE 100 crew – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Next, Marks & Spencer, B&Q owner Kingfisher, JD Sports and the AB Foods-owned Primark. This display of unity will irritate the Treasury but, almost certainly, will not cause Rachel Reeves to rethink. The chancellor has already told firms how to deal with the rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs), the most contentious measure and one that comprises £2.33bn of the £7bn. They should absorb it through

The Guardian view on taxing farmers: big landowners must pay their share | Editorial

Tax rises were needed, but Labour must not dismiss the difficulties faced by farming families No tax change is perfect. Systems can never be customised to take in every set of circumstances. There are always edge cases – people who are outliers in the groups that new measures are aimed at. Several hundred farming families seem likely to fall into this category, following the changes to inheritance tax in Rachel Reeves’s budget that have prompted this week’s angry protests. Those whose incomes will make it difficult for them to pay the new 20% rate on agricultural property above a £1m threshold may need to sell land, or adapt their businesses in other ways. Given that farms were previously exempt, it is not surprising that this has caused upset. Very few people want to pay more tax – especially on family-owned assets to which they are attached. There is a reasonable argument that more notice should have been given of the government’s plans, which were not in its manifesto. Had a cons

The Guardian view on children’s homes: cap profits and don’t stop there | Editorial

Private sector reform is overdue, but councils need funding if young people are to have the chances they deserve Curbs on profiteering in the children’s social care sector cannot come soon enough. It is getting on for three years since the Competition and Markets Authority found that children’s home owners in England, Scotland and Wales were making excessive profits while carrying too much debt – exposing children and councils to unacceptable risks. Of all the failed experiments in privatisation of the past 30 years, this has a case to be considered the worst. A situation in which children are regularly uprooted from their areas due to services having been shaped by market forces – rather than their needs – should never have been allowed. Bridget Phillipson’s announcement on Monday that the government will seek to limit the profits of providers in England, and restrict the use of agency social workers to promote a more stable workforce, was the clearest indication so far of the d

Borthwick claims players not fit enough for Test rugby after South Africa loss

England coach does not believe he will be sacked Freddie Stewart says players should shoulder blame Steve Borthwick has claimed his England players were not fit enough for Test rugby when they began their autumn internationals after Saturday’s defeat by South Africa extended their dismal losing run. In what could be construed as a tacit admission that Aled Walters’ departure has been keenly felt, Borthwick has risked the ire of Premiership clubs by stating that his players’ “condition” was not “where it needed to be” at the start of the month. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qQjOAhp

Raducanu and Boulter can fire Britain to BJK Cup victory, Keothavong claims

Pair took Britain past Germany into Sunday’s semi-finals Captain says: ‘I’m fortunate – I really believe we can win’ Throughout Anne Keothavong’s 12 years of diligently competing in the Billie Jean King Cup, the Great Britain team often seemed stuck. The Europe/Africa Group I, where they were positioned for more than a decade, is notoriously brutal and once a team is relegated to those zonal groups, it can be very difficult to escape. It was not until 2019, with Keothavong as captain, that Great Britain finally broke through and established themselves among the elite. Those struggles in the lower divisions only underline the massive strides Great Britain have taken. Two years after reaching the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals , they can now call themselves one of the best teams in the world after Friday’s efficient 2-0 win over Germany , which saw both Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu win in two sets. They will face the defending champions Canada on Sunday confident that they can