Peter Foster talks to politicians, policymakers and businesses about the UK’s search for growth, productivity and its place in a changing world.
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Also in this week’s newsletter: civil service headcount balloons
The town faces the same Nimbyism and conflicting attitudes towards the greenbelt that stifle much of the national debate
Also in this week’s newsletter: why it’s in Brussels’ interest to deepen energy co-operation with the UK
Also in this week’s newsletter, the government’s plans to ‘get Britain building’
Also in this week’s newsletter, the financial pressure on local authorities and your guide to election night
Also in this week’s newsletter, the UK’s fading allure for wealthy foreigners
Also in this week’s newsletter: a salutary lesson for Labour
Also in this week’s newsletter, cuts to youth services in England and Wales and their impact
Labour identifies support for key sectors if it wins the election but critics say state intervention distorts the free market
Keir Starmer pledges to reboot government operations; plus, UK skills training falls far behind peer countries
Row over graduate visas reveals political cack handedness; plus, tackling a serious social housing shortage
Upgrading state will take more than money; plus, businesses bewail new hostile environment for overseas graduates
Also in this week’s newsletter: a superficially comforting headline on inward investment
Also in this week’s newsletter, how post-Brexit trade continues to confound expectations
Also in this week’s newsletter, new border charges threaten to push up imported food prices
Also this week, evidence grows that new border controls are hitting meat imports
Talk of reviving Theresa May’s Chequers plan hints at a wider debate within the opposition party about future UK-EU ties
Eleventh-hour introduction of Common User Charge triggers business backlash
Also in this week’s newsletter: Britons’ changing attitudes to immigration
Plus, Northern Ireland trade with UK declines but grows with the EU
Keir Starmer must go further than simply arguing for greater military co-operation to reap benefits of closer relations
The chancellor may not have mentioned Brexit but the OBR pointed to it as a cause of the UK’s ongoing economic weakness
The UK has the potential to be a global leader in approving new industries but it must act quickly
Also in this week’s newsletter, Goldman Sachs estimates Brexit’s impact on the UK economy
Also in this week’s newsletter, revisiting the financial regulation inherited from the EU