Exclusive: Byrne writes to Clegg to demand answers on jobs fund
The controversy over how Nick Clegg’s £1bn jobs fund is to be paid for has overshadowed the announcement itself, much to the annoyance of the Lib Dems. This morning, John Humphrys spent most of his interview with Clegg asking him whether tax credits were going to be squeezed to pay for his plan.
I should point out that no tax is hypothecated: we should not think the tax credits money is going directly into the jobs fund. However these things are true: Read more
FT report card on Cable/Osborne’s March growth review
It may seem like an age ago but there was another growth review back in March, which some may have already forgotten.
Not FT Westminster. We’ve been back through the 137 initiatives launched back then to see how they fared. Under our unscientific calculations Vince Cable and George Osborne deserve a B- for their efforts. Read more
Lord Heseltine challenges Tory orthodoxy on red tape
Earlier this week Lord Heseltine aligned himself with Vince Cable by signalling his opposition to the Beecroft reforms, which would make it easier to fire workers.
Last night made a speech at the Whitehall and Industry Group where he compared Britain with Germany in terms of their economic strengths, pointedly warning that the Germans have long had an impressive “industrial strategy”: “In terms of industrial policy (in the UK) there are serious deficiencies,” warned the former deputy prime minister. Read more
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Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.
Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.
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