Heather Stewart
@guardianheather.bsky.social
Economics editor at the Guardian. Former political editor, former Observer economics editor. Londoner, Mum.
[email protected]
[email protected]
This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻♀️
December 1, 2025 at 8:15 AM
This story is starting to make me feel I’m going slightly mad - maybe RR overdid the gloom, but the tax rises are paying for a) the welfare U-turns b) the £10bn-plus increase in headroom c) scrapping the two child limit d) bits of other spending eg higher local gov costs 🤷🏻♀️
Stuck for a Christmas gift? Reform have come to the rescue. Yours for just £349 - complete with the chance of winning a “golden ticket” lunch with Farage:
November 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Stuck for a Christmas gift? Reform have come to the rescue. Yours for just £349 - complete with the chance of winning a “golden ticket” lunch with Farage:
It seems a stretch to describe this as a “step” unless it’s off a diving board:
November 27, 2025 at 2:39 PM
It seems a stretch to describe this as a “step” unless it’s off a diving board:
The OBR is also assuming there will be a deferral scheme of some kind too, though no details yet:
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 AM
The OBR is also assuming there will be a deferral scheme of some kind too, though no details yet:
Side point, but it can’t be said often enough that so much of today’s political debate is taken up with migration, when it is *plunging* 📉 (from OBR docs):
November 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Side point, but it can’t be said often enough that so much of today’s political debate is taken up with migration, when it is *plunging* 📉 (from OBR docs):
The OBR’s quite sniffy about the chancellor’s efforts to restore the public finances:
November 26, 2025 at 12:53 PM
The OBR’s quite sniffy about the chancellor’s efforts to restore the public finances:
Surely that just doesn’t fit the facts (the pro-market bit) given how much of a driver health/social care were?
September 26, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Surely that just doesn’t fit the facts (the pro-market bit) given how much of a driver health/social care were?
The trouble with this endlessly repeated idea of “fixing the foundations” is that people want to know what it is you’re going to build/rebuild on top of them…
September 1, 2025 at 12:15 PM
The trouble with this endlessly repeated idea of “fixing the foundations” is that people want to know what it is you’re going to build/rebuild on top of them…
Labour have now put out a response to the Farage speech, in the name of Ellie Reeves - it’s all about the practicalities of deportation and detention. Suggests they’re just fine with his tone/language/the very dark turn this whole debate is taking.
August 26, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Labour have now put out a response to the Farage speech, in the name of Ellie Reeves - it’s all about the practicalities of deportation and detention. Suggests they’re just fine with his tone/language/the very dark turn this whole debate is taking.
Does anyone else object to this language, or am I being a shrinking Guardian violet? It’s just so violent an image, I hate it (have some issues with the substance too, natch)
July 16, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Does anyone else object to this language, or am I being a shrinking Guardian violet? It’s just so violent an image, I hate it (have some issues with the substance too, natch)
Today reminded me of this comment from @davidgauke.bsky.social for a pre-election profile we wrote of Reeves, which now reads like an epic understatement:
July 2, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Today reminded me of this comment from @davidgauke.bsky.social for a pre-election profile we wrote of Reeves, which now reads like an epic understatement:
That’s because Barry looking depressed rn is an impossibility - just look at this month’s gig schedule for Barrioke ☀️
June 30, 2025 at 8:52 AM
That’s because Barry looking depressed rn is an impossibility - just look at this month’s gig schedule for Barrioke ☀️
Amazing chart from the IMF here: data centres are already using more electricity than France; and that could triple by 2030:
May 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Amazing chart from the IMF here: data centres are already using more electricity than France; and that could triple by 2030:
See also (sorry):
May 13, 2025 at 12:18 PM
See also (sorry):
Is it an *additional* 100k decline? Because the OBR was already expecting a fall on that scale:
May 12, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Is it an *additional* 100k decline? Because the OBR was already expecting a fall on that scale:
NO THANKYOU Meta, I would not like you to offer me “relationship advice” from a bot, when I am just trying to search for a friend’s WhatsApp message, any more than I want health tips from my washing machine or Netflix recommendations from the car.
May 9, 2025 at 7:15 AM
NO THANKYOU Meta, I would not like you to offer me “relationship advice” from a bot, when I am just trying to search for a friend’s WhatsApp message, any more than I want health tips from my washing machine or Netflix recommendations from the car.
Helpful palate cleanser from @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social liveblog ahead of Trump’s press conference on the US-UK tariff agreement:
May 8, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Helpful palate cleanser from @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social liveblog ahead of Trump’s press conference on the US-UK tariff agreement:
Ok I did not know that the Singer sewing machine was invented by this rather flamboyant chap - a former actor whose scandalous private life forced him to relocate to Paris, apparently. Anyone know of a biography, and if not can someone write one please?
April 27, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Ok I did not know that the Singer sewing machine was invented by this rather flamboyant chap - a former actor whose scandalous private life forced him to relocate to Paris, apparently. Anyone know of a biography, and if not can someone write one please?
Now you mention it they do seem to keep giving top jobs to women:
March 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Now you mention it they do seem to keep giving top jobs to women:
Good to see Mark Carney has taken some great British style tips back to Canada with him:
March 22, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Good to see Mark Carney has taken some great British style tips back to Canada with him:
I do buy the idea we need to spend more on defence, but I hate this kind of thinking. Do you know what other work gives purpose and bloody well ought to have a “patriotic imperative”? Social care, teaching, nursing, and a whole load of other things Spads may not find as sexy.
March 15, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I do buy the idea we need to spend more on defence, but I hate this kind of thinking. Do you know what other work gives purpose and bloody well ought to have a “patriotic imperative”? Social care, teaching, nursing, and a whole load of other things Spads may not find as sexy.
We have a print of this one, which I love:
March 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
We have a print of this one, which I love: