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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Has the rush for economic stimulation obscured joined-up thinking?

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Has the rush for economic stimulation obscured joined-up thinking?
The Chancellor was like a person sitting on the cliff-edge of colossal public debt last week, convinced that her massive 'investment' commitments can overlook the void below. It appears that economic stimulation is the only game in town for the British economy, and even that seems to avoid joined-up thinking in some key areas. Background music: 'Ether Oar' by The Whole Other

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Gavin Oldham

The Bigger Picture: The UK Chancellor’s Spending Review

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: The UK Chancellor’s Spending Review
The unabridged recording of Rachel Reeves’ speech in the House of Commons on 11th June 2025.

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: How would you spend a lottery jackpot?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: How would you spend a lottery jackpot?
What would you do with £208 million? Ahead of another Euromillions rollover, This is Money spoke to an adviser to those fortunate few who have scooped a jackpot to get some practical tips on what to do if you win big…just in case! Would friends and family be top of your list when it comes to how to spend it... or something else? Lee Boyce, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss. Simon turns his focus on The Big Winter Fuel u-turn and the spending review – 'pray for Rachel and all of us', he says. We borrowed too much to buy our home - what can we do about our huge mortgage? And an auction expert revealed the four types of property that savvy buyers are snapping up right now.

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Bearing down on Spending

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Bearing down on Spending
On 11th June UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves presents her Spending Review against the backdrop of a gargantuan public debt liability which is costing the UK taxpayer £111 billion a year in interest. Further tax rises have been ruled out, so she needs to identify achievable, structural reductions in spending. Elon Musk thought he'd done just that as head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but only a small fraction of his planned reductions were achieved. In the UK at least we can break away from welfare universality — but will she do it? She's tried taxation and now she has to tackle spending, but the real elephant in the room is debt: all £2.7 trillion of it. Background music: 'Dark Alley Deals' by Aaron Kenny

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: How low will interest rates go — and what does it mean for you?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: How low will interest rates go — and what does it mean for you?
With the Bank of England citing Donal Trump's trade war as the key driver for lower interest rates, will the UK-US trade deal stall the fall? Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Helen Crane discuss this and — will the new IHT levy on pensions lead to retirees spending more on holidays? Also, as companies require more of their staff to return to the office, is 'Working From Home' over?
Guest:

Helen Crane


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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: Trump tariff shock rocks the markets: What happens next?

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: Trump tariff shock rocks the markets: What happens next?
Markets around the world have slumped, the dollar weakened and fears mount of a global recession, after Donald Trump announced huge 'reciprocal' tariffs on over one hundred countries. The UK appears to have got off lightly, attracting just the baseline 10% tariff - but even that will wipe out the Chancellor's beloved headroom and leaves the door wide open for tax rises in the Autumn. How else could it hit us here? From pensions, investments, mortgages and energy bills, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce try to unpick a crazy few days in the geo-political arena. As ISA providers continue to battle it out to win new customers ahead of the end of the tax year, we've seen some chunky deals. A quartet of savings apps have all boosted rates repeatedly in the last week, with the top Cash ISA rate of 5.9%, up from 5.28% just a week ago. The catch? These bonus boosts only last three months, so how good is the rate you're really getting over the whole year? And are these deals worth it? And, on the topic of ISAs, Simon has his very, very last minute tips on filling your allowance before it's too late.

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Why ‘Non-Experimental Evaluation’ Matters

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Why ‘Non-Experimental Evaluation’ Matters
Outcome assessment is vital for all new initiatives, particularly political, but traditional academic research, which is sequential in character, is not good at responding to the speed of change in our modern world. This is particularly the case in tackling Child Poverty, for which a UK-Government Task Force is due to report later this Spring. If we are to break the cycle of deprivation with inter-generational rebalancing, we need a new sense of dynamism and responsiveness. Background music: 'Peony Morning' by TrackTribe

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Georgie Frost

This Is Money: What the Spring Statement means for your finances

Georgie Frost
Original Broadcast:

This is Money

This Is Money: What the Spring Statement means for your finances
Rachel Reeves is back to where she started after the Spring Statement, with her £9.9billion of budget headroom restored but at what cost? The Chancellor was true to her word and didn't turn last week's economic update into a second Budget, with no tax changes coming in. But a wave of spending cuts was announced, along with growth forecasts going both down and up. We also got the Office for Budget Responsibility's update on what Reeves' Autumn Budget tax rises will cost us, a threat to Cash ISAs and no reprieve for home buyers on stamp duty. In this episode, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert dive into the Spring Statement to explain why it happened, what it means, and tackle the question of whether taxes are going to have to rise again in autumn. They look at the very important assumption being made by the OBR, which if it turns out to be wrong could mean there is a £48billion black hole in the sums. And is the entire thing a charade anyway and damaging to our future prospects? Simon explains why he thinks so. Finally, campaigners like Gary Stevenson claim that this could all be solved with a wealth tax — is that where we will eventually end up?

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Gavin Oldham

The Bigger Picture: Spring Statement 2025

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture: Spring Statement 2025
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivers her March '25 Spring Statement — this is an unabridged audio record of her speech to the House of Commons

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: End of the Road for Universality

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: End of the Road for Universality
When Clement Attlee introduced welfare universality to post-war Britain, he was aiming for a more egalitarian society. Seventy-five years on we can see not only that it has not been achieved, but also that it has nearly bankrupted the public finances: a major task for UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves to tackle in her Spring Statement. Targeting support for those most in need with the help of philanthropy will be a key part of replacing 'egalitarian socialism' with egalitarian capitalism, enabling those with a social conscience to concentrate support and encouragement where it's needed, rather than providing publicly-funded services 'free at the point of use' for everyone. Background music: 'Everything Has a Beginning' by Joel Cummins Image source: Wikipedia

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