October 2010
Willetts announces end of state funding for social sciences
David Willetts today announced the effective end of state funding for degree courses in arts, humanities, and social science subjects.
Warnings NHS faces real terms funding reduction of 1 per cent a year
A leading health think tank has warned the NHS faces a funding gap of £6 billion a year by 2015. The King's Fund says that, contrary to George Osborne’s claim the NHS will get an annual real-terms rise of 0.1 per cent, the NHS will in effect face a reduction of more than 1 per cent a year if it is to maintain existing levels of treatment and cover, given changes in the population.
Poll worry for coalition as pain of cuts begins to dawn
Labour leads the Tories in the Times/Populus poll series for the first time in three years in the wake of the comprehensive spending review as voters begin to realise the full scale of the coalition's cuts agenda. Ed Miliband's party are up one point on 38 per cent, with the Conservatives down two points on 37 per cent and the Liberal Democrats up one point on 15 per cent.
Economic growth beats expectations
The UK economy grew far more rapidly than expected in the third quarter. Real GDP (the total output of the economy) increased by 0.8 per cent and was 2.9 per cent higher than in the third quarter of 2009, according to figures released today by the Office for National Statistics. Economists had expected an increase of just 0.4 per cent.
Problems remain for the government over pensions reform
So far we have few details, and all that has been confirmed by the Department for Work and Pensions is that there will be a green paper – the most tentative form of government policy statement – before Christmas.
Farage is a “control freak” says fellow UKIP MEP
The front-runner in the UKIP leadership contest, Nigel Farage MEP, was on the receiving end of an astonishing attack from a fellow UKIP MEP today, who criticised Mr Farage for being a "control freak" and damaging the party by monopolising power.