Author: Blake Anderson

This article is an on-site version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. If you’re not a subscriber, you can still receive the newsletter free for 30 daysGood morning. I’m very grateful to Miranda for writing Friday’s newsletter, as it allowed me to focus on getting in the way of our movers in the morning to unpack our boxes. Had it not been for that, today’s newsletter would not have been written, as the computer I am typing it on would still be in a box. In a sense I…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.G.Network, a full-fibre broadband wholesaler, has launched a fresh attempt to secure a sale, signalling a new wave of consolidation among the providers trying to challenge BT and Virgin Media O2. With a network spanning 416,000 homes in London, G.Network has instructed bankers at Jefferies and Nomura to contact potential buyers again, having first appointed them 18 months ago to explore a deal. The banks have been contacting rival so-called alternative network providers over the past week to gauge their interest in…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.In last Wednesday’s Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves, chancellor of the exchequer, did exactly what was expected of her. Confronted, as predicted, with worse forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility than those of last October, the government tweaked plans for spending and revenue, with a view to restoring the headroom the OBR judges it had lost relative to its fiscal targets five years hence. Was this sensible? No.As I argued two weeks ago, the world has changed substantially, not least given the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.A group of pro-growth Labour MPs is urging the UK government to raise the pay and number of political advisers, in a bid to attract more experts to Whitehall who can help ministers overhaul the state. The Labour Growth Group (LGG), which boasts more than 100 parliamentarians, has co-written a report with Reform, the non-partisan Westminster think-tank, examining how Downing Street can improve the operations of central government, particularly the civil service.Its recommendations seek to knock down a series of shibboleths that…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.One of the government’s most senior civil servants has been tasked with getting to the bottom of the problems with data produced by the Office for National Statistics, as concern grows in Westminster about the reliability of the numbers used to steer the UK economy. Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, has asked his top official Cat Little to look into the performance of the ONS amid fears that chancellor Rachel Reeves has been left flying blind as she draws up her plans…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Councils and low-cost housing providers say they could build more than 90,000 additional affordable homes over a decade if ministers included them in two multibillion-pound cladding funding schemes. The National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents housing associations, and the Local Government Association have written to chancellor Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, urging them to include affordable housing in the “Building Safety Fund” and “Cladding Safety Scheme”.The programmes were designed to prevent leaseholders from shouldering the cost of removing…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.An artificial intelligence tool to mark schoolchildren’s homework is being developed using a trove of UK government data, ahead of plans to sell public records including health information within a decade. A new government scheme has pooled public documents such as curriculum guidance, lesson plans and anonymised pupil assessments, which are now being used to train AI models, including one that can mark children’s work and provide detailed feedback. The “content store” — created by UK company Faculty AI with £4mn of…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK government should replace the windfall tax on oil and gas “as soon as practicable”, a business-led task force has said, warning the window of opportunity to secure the future of the North Sea is “closing fast”. The North Sea Transition Taskforce, backed by the British Chambers of Commerce, said ministers have chosen to “wait too long” with their decision to replace the “flawed” energy profits levy in 2030. The current effective tax rate of 78 per cent on oil and…

Hopes are growing in London and Brussels that a crucial summit in May will open the door to a UK-EU defence pact and wider economic deal, and that it will not be derailed by a simmering dispute over fishing quotas.“I think we are in a very good place,” said one EU official, referring to the Brussels summit that will formally kick off negotiations on a post-Brexit reset of relations. “Things are progressing very well.”UK ministers are also optimistic the May 19 event will clear the way for closer economic ties, building on the trust developed by a new security and…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK employment myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The writer chairs the commission for healthier working lives at the Health Foundation think-tankThe current debate on welfare and work risks overlooking a crucial fact: every year over 300,000 people in the UK leave their job and report a work-limiting health condition. Many do not return. But evidence shows that much of this could be prevented with the right support. Without it, more will fall permanently out of work, creating lasting costs for individuals, employers and public services.This month, the government announced…