Budget crunch
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Punch (magazine)
11 min read
The article opens with a famous quote from Punch magazine (1895). Understanding this influential British satirical publication provides context for the 'curate's egg' idiom being invoked to critique the UK budget.
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Office for Budget Responsibility
12 min read
The OBR's leaked report and role in UK fiscal policy is central to this article. Understanding this independent forecasting body's function and history illuminates the significance of the budget controversy described.
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BRITAIN. The chancellor’s egg
Excellent in parts, but the smell is rotten.
London shares were choppy Wednesday after Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a mixed budget, with higher effective taxes but few real reforms. The Office for Budget Responsibility lowered its growth outlook in a leaked report.
INTELLIGENCE. The OBR mistakenly published its response an hour before Reeves’s speech, leading to frenzied trading and accusations of government chaos. This overshadowed a solid but uninspired budget, as many expected. It has led to fresh speculation on who will replace Keir Starmer, who has vanquished his parliamentary majority with milquetoast leadership. As in the budget, there’s nothing particularly wrong with Starmer, but also nothing right.
FOR BUSINESS. Between now and the May 2026 local elections, where key metropolitan boroughs are up for grabs, Starmer and Reeves will be hounded by rumours of a spill. After being wrongfooted at Labour’s September leadership conference, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is again favourite, with a Norwich backbencher recently offering his seat if it happened. But Burnham, seen to Starmer’s fiscal left, would need to move well ahead of the municipal polls.
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UNITED STATES. The shots heard
An ambush on every Thanksgiving dinner debate.
...Two national guardsmen were shot Wednesday, two blocks from the White House. The suspected shooter, an Afghan who had overstayed
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