economic impact

3 articles

Dec 22, 2025 • via BBC News

Bradford traders watch £51 million culture year pass without sales bump

£15m government grant yields footfall gains but no high street windfall

Bradford's £51m UK City of Culture drew three million but left local businesses reporting flat trade. Public funds fuelled events and hype, yet economic legacy metrics stay vague amid recurring national patterns.

Nov 19, 2025 • via The Spectator

Asylum's £266,000 Illusion Crumbles on Data

A pro-reform report's rosy projections ignore low employment rates and lifetime fiscal drags

Analysis debunks a coalition report claiming £266,000 economic gains per refugee, exposing flawed assumptions and potential billions in added costs amid UK's strained public finances.

Aug 2, 2025 • via The Telegraph

Council Tax War on Second Homes Achieves Precisely Nothing

Punitive premiums create unsold properties, not local buyers

The government promised that punitive council tax premiums would free up homes for local buyers. Eight months later, the data reveals a textbook case of British policy failure: properties nobody wants, markets nobody can navigate, and communities bleeding economic vitality.