Sunshine last month had a warming effect on clothing sales and helped retailers with increases in like-for-like salesA burst of summer sunshine boosted clothing stores last month and helped retailers bounce back as like-for-like sales rose by 1.8%, according to new figures.The year-on-year increase in June comes after a flat month in May and is the best rise in 18 months excluding Easter distortions, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG’s Retail Sales Monitor. Continue reading...

Analysts believe Alexis Tsipras could lose power amid the backlash over the deep economic reforms, and asset sales, he agreed to in BrusselsFollow today’s Greek debt crisis live as Tsipras meets mutinous MPs11.52pm BSTPS: Another statement from the International Monetary Fund just arrived:“Following on the Managing Director’s participation in the discussions on Greece held in Brussels over the weekend, she briefed the IMF’s Executive Board on the outcome as reflected in the Eurozone Leaders’ statement published earlier today.The IMF stands ready to work with the Greek authorities and the European partners to help move this important effort forward.”11.48pm BSTAnd finally, here’s our news story on the political fight ahead:

Prime minister faces tough task to keep his Syriza party united, as former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis likens bailout proposal to 1919 Versailles treatyAlexis Tsipras was on course on Monday night to sway radical-leftist Syriza MPs to accept the most draconian rescue of a sovereign nation since the second world war, after the Greek prime minister accepted a third bailout programme that one analyst said came after a weekend of “gunboat diplomacy”.Related: Measured, sober and sceptical: Germany reacts to Greece dealRelated: Greece put its faith in democracy but Europe has vetoed the result | Paul MasonRelated: #ThisIsACoup: how a hashtag born in Barcelona spread across globe Continue reading...

The feeling among many Germans is that the same politicians are likely to find themselves in a huddle over the same issue again a few months down the lineFollowing a marathon 17 hours of talks in which the Greek prime minister accepted a third bailout programme, Angela Merkel emerged in Brussels tired but surprisingly well-tempered and focused.After 27 hours without a wink of sleep, and probably the longest meeting of her chancellorship, she told waiting journalists: “The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The fundamental principles have been adhered to. I believe that Greeks can get back on to a growth trajectory.”Related: #ThisIsACoup: how a hashtag born in Barcelona spread across globeRelated: Tsipras and Merkel: polar opposites who depend entirely on each other Continue reading...

The EU has humiliated Syriza and ignored its referendum: now the only power the country has left is to implement what the lenders wantThe only thing certain about the aftermath of Sunday’s Euro summit is the disgrace of the political leaderships. The EU’s main powers tried to ritually humiliate the Greek government, but ruthlessness of intent was matched by incompetence when it came to execution. The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, threw on to the table a suggestion for Greece to leave the single currency for five years. Senior MPs from his coalition partner, the socialist SPD, screamed from the sidelines that they had not agreed to this – yet enough of Germany’s partners did agree to get the proposal into the final ultimatum.The Greeks were negotiating under threat of their banking system being allowed to collapse, a threat made by the very regulator supposed to maintain financial stability.Little did leftwing Greece understand how scant was the power its ministers actually wielded from their offices Continue reading...

The Greek deal is unfair and unlikely to work. Far from easing the pace of austerity, the agreement embeds it

Rather than celebrate the deal, newspapers and commentators see only losers, while in eastern Europe there is a lack of trust towards AthensThe German press saw little cause for rejoicing in the Greek deal that saw Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble push through their key demands in Brussels overnight. For many, the lasting damage to Europe has already been done.Related: Greek crisis: Tsipras returns to Athens to gather support for bailout deal - liveRelated: With Europe behind it, Greece is being pushed into further peril Continue reading...

Can these ambitious targets be met? Many economists think economic recovery could be hampered furtherPast Greek bailouts were accompanied by declarations that the deal on the table was realistic, comprehensive and good for both parties. There was confidence that Greece’s debts would soon be cruising back towards the target of 120% of GDP by 2020 and, long before then, the country would be able to finance itself in the markets.The tone is very different this time. The early-morning declaration from Brussels stressed “the crucial need to rebuild trust with the Greek authorities” and stated that “ownership [of the bailout and reform programme] by the Greek authorities is key”. Continue reading...

Last-minute deal to stop the country falling out of the single currency is almost certain to bring more misery, but is welcomed with quiet relief by GreeksGreece’s financial rescue came too late to save Dimitri’s business, but the 40-year-old reserved his anger not for the man who eventually signed off on more economic pain but the creditors who dictated the brutal terms.

After marathon talks to secure third bailout, Greek prime minister prepares for showdown with MPs opposed to deal described as harsher than Versailles treatyRelated: Greece bailout agreement: key pointsAlexis Tsipras is heading for a showdown with his own party and opposition MPs after the Greek prime minister accepted a third bailout programme that will bring further austerity to the debt-stricken country. Continue reading...

After a marathon summit, the 19 eurozone leaders have seen off the prospects of Grexit. Here are the main points that were agreedAfter almost 17 hours of talks in Brussels, Europe’s longest-ever summit, Greece and the rest of the eurozone have finally reached an agreement that could lead to a third bailout and keep the country in the single currency bloc.Alexis Tsipras, the Greek PM, conceded to a further swathe of austerity measures and economic reforms. Here is a summary of where he has had to compromise.Related: Greece and eurozone reach agreement in bailout talks Continue reading...

There is not the remotest prospect Athens can raise the money set out in the bailout terms, even with the enforced sale of national assetsKeynes never existed. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was never written. Economic history ended on the day Franklin Roosevelt replaced Herbert Hoover as president of the United States.That’s the gist of the deal that keeps Greece in the euro, an agreement that will deepen the country’s recession, makes its debt position less sustainable and virtually guarantees that its problems come bubbling back to the surface before too long. Continue reading...

Some members of Greek prime minister’s Syriza party have already denounced bailout accord as harbinger of further catastropheFor the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, the hard work begins now. The rescue deal hammered out in Brussels may have brought relief to Athens but its battle-hardened government knows that it also comes at enormous cost.Within minutes of Tsipras giving his “victory” speech, some in his Syriza party were denouncing the bailout accord – the third emergency funding programme for the debt-stricken country since 2010 – as the harbinger of further catastrophe.Related: Greece and eurozone reach agreement in bailout talksRelated: Greek bailout: what happens nextRelated: Greece agreement is 'bad but still better than leaving the euro' Continue reading...

From the pressing issue of funding to meet debt repayments, to moving legislation through the Greek parliament, the next week holds multiple targetsAfter 31 hours of talks over one bad-tempered weekend in Brussels, European leaders announced they had an agreement on the Greek debt crisis – or ‘aGreekment’ in the unhappy addition to the Grexit lexicon favoured by Donald Tusk, the leader of the European Council.The snappy soundbites glide over the fact the eurozone has simply agreed to open negotiations on a €86bn (£62bn) bailout – a vital step to restore confidence in the euro, but essentially an agreement to have more talks. The deal that emerged on Monday morning must pass the test of the Greek parliament, the German Bundestag and the European financial system.

PM’s spokeswoman says he is prepared to consider making people pay into savings accounts to cover periods of illness or unemploymentDavid Cameron is prepared to look at making workers pay into flexible saving accounts to fund their own sick pay or unemployment benefits, Downing Street has confirmed.The idea was first floated by Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, who said he was “very keen” to have a debate about encouraging people to use personal accounts to save for unemployment or illness, even though it is not official government policy. Continue reading...

Bank of England credit conditions survey for Q2 found rate for £10,000 loan is just above 4%, with greater competition among lenders citedInterest rates on personal loans have dropped to the lowest levels on record in the latest evidence that the cost of borrowing is continuing to fall for consumers.While mortgage rates slumped to record levels in May when the Co-operative Bank launched a two-year rate at 1.09%, the Bank of England said rates on personal loans had also reached the lowest levels since records began 20 years ago. A £10,000 loan costs just above 4%.Related: Interest rates rise could derail recovery, Bank of England economist warns Continue reading...

The agreement reached in Brussels covers everything from VAT reforms and a civil service shake-up to who owns pharmacies and how milk and bread is soldThe Euro Summit stresses the crucial need to rebuild trust with the Greek authorities as a pre-requisite for a possible future agreement on a new ESM programme. In this context, the ownership by the Greek authorities is key, and successful implementation should follow policy commitments.

From the Balkans to the Baltic the marathon talks have carved deep divisions within the EU and left intense unease about Germany’s increasingly raw powerFor all the leaders involved, the past two days in Brussels will be hailed as the 48 hours that saved the euro. For many others from the Balkans to the Baltic, the brutal power plays pitting European leaders one against the other will signal instead the great damage being done to the single currency. And if historians are ever required to write the obituaries for Europe’s monetary union, they are likely to conclude that a weekend in July 2015 was the point when the serious illness afflicting the euro turned terminal.There were no signs of joy in Brussels on Monday morning when leaders emerged bleary-eyed and exhausted from a draining 17-hour summit that ran from Sunday afternoon through the night into Monday morning. It was believed to be the longest continuously sitting summit ever, preceded directly by five hours of eurozone finance ministers meeting on Sunday and nine hours on Saturday.Related: Greece and eurozone reach agreement in bailout talksRelated: Greece bailout agreement: the key points Continue reading...

Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker seek to justify their Greek bailout deal, but what kind of family asset-strips one of its members in broad daylight?The seemingly indestructible Angela Merkel can go without sleep, and still manage a half smile and speak about Greece’s wish to remain in “the euro family”. This may sound reasonable and pleasant. All families have their little local difficulties, don’t they? But they work through them. People see reason. When they are forced to.By infantilising Greece, Germany resembles a child who closes its own eyes and thinks we can not see it. We can. The world is watching what is being done to Greece in the name of euro stability.Related: Grexit may have been avoided, but divisions in Europe are growing | Mary Dejevsky Continue reading...

Greece and its eurozone creditors have reached a deal after all-night talks, but can we trust the decisions and deals of sleep-deprived politicians?The Greek government and its eurozone creditors have reached a deal after marathon all-night talks, but can we trust the decisions and deals of sleep-deprived politicians?Were the negotiators sleep deprived?Journalist takes picture of cameraman filming journalist sleeping pic.twitter.com/0TKfVl2SSPThe improvement of workers’ safety, hygiene and health at work is an objective which should not be subordinated to purely economic considerations.All workers should have adequate rest periods. The concept of ‘rest’ must be expressed in units of time, i.e. in days, hours and/or fractions thereof. Community workers must be granted minimum daily, weekly and annual periods of rest and adequate breaks. It is also necessary in this context to place a maximum limit on weekly working hours.Research has shown that the human body is more sensitive at night to environmental disturbances and also to certain burdensome forms of work organisation and that long periods of night work can be detrimental to the health of workers and can endanger safety at the workplace … Night workers whose work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain do not work more than eight hours in any period of 24 hours during which they perform night work.

Talks stall on two points: IMF involvement in a new three-year bailout and a German demand for Greece to give up €50bn in public assets as collateralA marathon overnight negotiation between Greece and its creditors remained unresolved on Monday morning after European leaders confronted Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, with a package of austerity measures which entailed a surrender of fiscal sovereignty.A weekend of high tension that threatened to break Europe in two climaxed on Sunday at a summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels where the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, François Hollande, presented Tsipras with an ultimatum.Related: Greece debt crisis: talk of compromise proposal as summit nears end – liveRelated: #ThisIsACoup: Germany faces backlash over tough Greece bailout demands Continue reading...

Markets in Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo all positive even as eurozone leaders struggled for a deal with indebted GreeceAsian markets rose on Monday while the euro was marginally lower as European leaders struggled to hammer out a debt reform deal to keep Greece in the eurozone, with a source saying a compromise had finally been found.

Survey of UK’s 350 biggest firms finds just 3% think Britain leaving the EU would be positive for their businesses but most are reluctant to speak out publiclyA majority of companies believe a British exit from the EU could harm them but only 7% would be willing to speak out publicly against “Brexit”, according to a survey of FTSE-350 firms.The latest barometer of boardroom sentiment by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) draws parallels with last year’s referendum on Scottish independence, when many businesses waited until close to the vote to voice their views.Related: EU referendum: Cameron in uncharted territory as he lays out UK demands Continue reading...

Faced with lending conditions so severe that one wonders if Germany intends it to leave the euro of its own accord, Greece and its PM are facing a terrible choiceIt comes down to this: Greece has until Wednesday to pass into law draconian new austerity measures or leave the single currency. Months of fruitless talks, all the midnight oil burned in the seemingly never-ending cycle of summits, have ended with a simple message to Alexis Tsipras and his leftwing government: stay on our terms or walk. You decide.It’s a terrible choice for Tsipras. The conditions being attached to a third Greek bailout are beyond harsh. There will have to be tax increases, pension reforms, privatisation and spending cuts previously rejected by Athens, all overseen by the troika of the European Central Bank, the European commission and the International Monetary Fund.Related: Greek crisis: surrender fiscal sovereignty in return for bailout, Merkel tells TsiprasRelated: Eurozone crisis: which countries are for or against Grexit Continue reading...

Greece’s two biggest creditors are divided on whether to expel it from the eurozone, with France dismissing Germany’s talk of an ultimatumRelated: Eurozone crisis: which countries are for or against GrexitThe Greek crisis has pitted Athens against the rest of the eurozone. But Germany’s proposal for Greece to leave the euro has portended a deep split between two key creditors of the indebted country.Related: 'Our children will grow up in a destroyed country' – Greeks fear for the future Continue reading...

German and French leaders press Greek leader for guarantees over austerity measures in what an EU official describes as ‘extensive mental waterboarding’European leaders have confronted the Greek government with a draconian package of austerity measures entailing a surrender of fiscal sovereignty as the price of avoiding financial collapse and being ejected from the single currency bloc.A weekend of high tension that threatened to break Europe in two climaxed on Sunday night at a summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels where the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and President François Hollande of France presented Greece’s radical prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, with an ultimatum.Related: Greece debt crisis: Athens fights against temporary Grexit plan - liveRelated: Greeks resigned to a hard, bitter future whatever deal is reached with Europe Continue reading...

With an emergency voting procedure potentially coming into play as eurozone splits widen, how do member states line up on the idea of expelling Greece?

Multinationals were probably waiting for result of British referendum on EU before deciding where to locate, says head of Irish investment authorityGlobal corporations will think twice about investing in the UK while uncertainty reigns over Britain’s European Union membership, according to the head of the Irish state body that has attracted Apple, Microsoft and Google to Ireland.Appealing to the UK to remain within the EU, Martin Shanahan, chief executive of the Republic’s Industrial Development Authority, said “it would be naive” if overseas investors were not factoring in the possibility of the British leaving the EU when deciding where to locate new factories and plants.

Alexis Tsipras remains hopeful for compromise but opinion is divided as France seeks agreement but Germany retains tough stance in climate of bailout mistrustEuropean leaders have started emergency talks in Brussels that could prove decisive for Greece’s future in the eurozone, amid signs of a split between the country’s creditors.Although billed as the last chance to secure “the ultimate agreement” on the Greek debt crisis, a grand political bargain to keep Greece in the eurozone are far from assured. Continue reading...

Bank of England governor to appear before MPs after raising concerns about threat to UK from eurozone crisis, over-leveraged banks and weaker growth

The extraordinary recent boom-bust trading pattern appears to have been halted, but China’s growth model has to change and become less reliant on investmentThe numbers are mind-boggling. Ten days of falls on the Shanghai stock exchange resulted in losses that exceeded the GDP of Mexico. And 12 million Chinese citizens who opened share-trading accounts in May were nursing potentially ruinous losses. Margin trading – speculating on the stock exchange with borrowed money – increased five-fold in a year to 2.3tn yuan (£230bn).While Europe’s focus has been the crisis in Greece, the Chinese stock market has been gripped by panic. The value of shares went up by 150% in little more than a year, then fell by 50% in just a few weeks. Continue reading...

In recession since 2006, the island is grappling with supermarket items 21% higher than the US average – even as 41% live in povertyPuerto Rico is in a severe fiscal crisis due to its $72bn in debt, which its governor recently declared was “not payable”. It has been in recession since 2006, with a generally contracting economy creating an unemployment rate of about 12-13% compared to the US rate of 5.5% and about a 41% poverty rate compared to the US’s 14.3%. While the island is dotted with US chain stores like Walmart and Walgreens – amounting to the largest concentration of those stores in the world – residents face high costs for many necessities, while earning a remarkably low per capita income of about $19,000 per year, half the US average.

Pressure building on Merkel and Hollande as currency bloc’s leaders enter last-chance summit amid cancellation of wider EU talksGreece debt crisis: EU leaders’ meeting cancelled with no deal in sight - liveEurope braced itself for its most fateful day in years on Sunday as presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors congregated in Brussels for a summit to decide whether Greece remains in the euro single currency.Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, cancelled an emergency full summit of the 28 countries that was to deal with the fallout from Greece’s ejection, in order to give eurozone leaders a last chance to reach an accord saving Greece and forestalling what would be a devastating schism sowing deep resentment and division between Europe’s leaders. Continue reading...

MPs will not accept any new bailout deal for Greece, public broadcaster Yle says, meaning ministers’ hands are tied in crunch Brussels negotiationsFinland’s parliament has decided it will not accept any new bailout deal for Greece, media reports said Saturday, piling on pressure as eurozone finance ministers tried to find a way out of the impasse.

The chancellor delivered a budgetary masterclass in how to dish your opponents and discomfit your rivalsThe envy of rivals is the highest compliment that is paid to political success. Since George Osborne delivered his budget to a rapturous reception from Tory MPs, Boris Johnson has been wearing the tortured smile of a man who has swallowed a wasp and is trying to look happy about it. He was compelled to laugh along when he was the butt of a joke in the chancellor’s speech. He had to pretend to approve when a national living wage, one of his pet causes, was appropriated by his competitor for the Tory crown, as the chancellor sought to divert attention from the scythe he was taking to in-work benefits. Overall, the backbencher for Uxbridge and the rest of the Tory party were given a masterclass in what a powerful chancellor can do to disorient his external opponents, eclipse his internal enemies, set the political weather and promote himself.Interestingly, the green-eyed monster can also be glimpsed at Number 10. Friends of the prime minister sound a little put out that so many plaudits have been showered on the next-door neighbour. They want to establish some ownership of the budget for the prime minister. One of his allies is keen for it to be known that “they built it together from the ground up”. David Cameron may also be getting irritated when he hears people say – and this is often said by ministers – that the next-door neighbour is the most powerful man in government. Continue reading...

After two world wars, a mere currency must not be allowed to derail a grand European project that has been decades in the makingThe seemingly endless eurozone crisis is coming to a head, but it won’t be completely over in the near future. In the meantime, it has unquestionably precipitated the most serious challenge to the idea of a unified Europe since the Second World War. The common currency, which was dreamed up to drive integration forward, has become a source of strain that threatens to tear apart the eurogroup and mortally weaken the EU itself. It is therefore not surprising that many people see this – for good or bad – as an existential struggle for the soul of Europe.Whatever happens with Greece, the way its debt has been fought over during the past five years has revealed the shallowness of any sense of political solidarity across the continent and the limited legitimacy of the EU’s political institutions. The Greeks complain about German meanness, the Germans about Greek profligacy; the French and Italians are driven by the worry that if Greece goes they may be next; while across eastern Europe people are asking why their money should go to prop up a standard of living in Athens that remains several notches higher than their own. Continue reading...

The chancellor of the exchequer claims he wants to double exports by 2020, but his budget gives little indication as to how that might happenIncomes per head in the west have grown by broadly 40 times over the past 250 years. Economic historians compete with each other for explanations, though none but the very idiosyncratic argues that the key determinant was tight control of the national debt . Rather, the driver is a combination of institutions, rule of law and competition that best fosters human beings exploiting the astonishing and unfolding fruits of science, technology, ingenuity and innovation.In this context, George Osborne’s simultaneously much lauded and deplored “big budget” last week is largely irrelevant, if not actively unhelpful. His book-keeper’s obsession with boxing the economy and society into whatever shape will best deliver a budget surplus by the end of the decade while preserving as much party advantage as possible will damage the country he purports to serve. Lower tax and lower welfare may be desirable for ideological purposes, but any linkage they may have with high wages, greater productivity or investment is at best indirect, at worst, barely existent. Mr Osborne is selling both party and country a false prospectus. Continue reading...

Finance ministers will resume talks on Sunday morning after failing to reach agreement tonight on Greece’s request for a third bailout

Whatever happens in Athens and Brussels to resolve the Greek crisis, Germany’s chancellor faces growing criticism at homeOn Friday night, millions of Germans sat down to watch the TV political comedy The Icedancer, about a German chancellor whose husband whisks her away on holiday to escape the stress of conflict in Ukraine and the Greek crisis. On the way to catch their train, she is knocked on the head by a falling signpost and wakes believing she is living in the runup to the fall of the Berlin Wall.It’s unlikely that Angela Merkel would wish to return to the cold war era. But the chance to turn the clock back to a time before the Greek euro crisis dominated her chancellorship is something she might have relished this past week. The German leader has faced the biggest test of her almost decade-long tenure in the days leading up to last night’s dramatic debate on whether to bail Greece out again or to cut it loose from the eurozone. Continue reading...

Shops and cafes are nearly deserted and small firms are shedding jobs. Now business owners fear there are only two choices: more austerity, or a brutal existence outside the eurozoneGreece has become so gloomy that even escapism no longer sells, the editor of the celebrity magazine OK! admits. “All celebrity magazines have to pretend everything is great, everyone is happy and relaxed, on holiday. But it is not,” says Nikos Georgiadis.Advertising has collapsed by three-quarters, the rich and famous are in hiding because no one wants to be snapped enjoying themselves – and even if OK! did have stories, a ban on spending money abroad means it is running out of the glossy Italian paper that the magazine is printed on. Continue reading...

Drama in Athens reflects a bigger truth: precarious countries across the globe owe trillions of dollars to lenders and investors who must be repaidWith its shuttered banks, furious public protests and iconoclastic politicians, the plight of Greece, brought to its knees by a crippling debt burden, has been gripping and heartbreaking in equal measure: a full-blown sovereign debt crisis on the doorstep of some of the wealthiest countries in the world.Yet new analysis by the Jubilee Debt Campaign reveals that Greece’s plight is far from unique: more than 20 other countries are also wrestling with their own debt crises. Many more, from Senegal to Laos, lie in a debt danger zone, where an economic downturn or a sudden jump in interest rates on world debt markets could lead to disaster. Continue reading...

External debts and war have pushed Kiev to the brink while the Caribbean island is suffering because of terms of trade engagement with the USGreece is not the only place in the world that is close to bankruptcy: Ukraine and Puerto Rico are also in serious trouble. Ukraine is now under the wing of the International Monetary Fund while Puerto Rico, a US territory that must get past the US Congress to deal with its creditors, is in freefall. Continue reading...

IMF chief Christine Lagarde and Eurogroup ministers express concerns about Greek ability to deliver on promised reformsTalks aimed at preventing Greece from leaving the eurozone and collapsing into bankruptcy are on a knife-edge amid widespread scepticism from the country’s creditors about whether Athens can deliver on its promises.

The 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, the austerity crisis in Greece, the Tour de France – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week Continue reading...

Despite a big parliamentary vote in favour of a deal with its creditors, Greece could be cut loose if it fails to win over EU leaders at a weekend of summits

Athens has submitted a package of tough spending cuts and tax rises in an attempt to reach a €53.5bn bailout and avoid Grexit.

Debt restructuring has always been our aim in negotiations – but for some eurozone leaders Grexit is the goalGreece’s financial drama has dominated the headlines for five years for one reason: the stubborn refusal of our creditors to offer essential debt relief. Why, against common sense, against the IMF’s verdict and against the everyday practices of bankers facing stressed debtors, do they resist a debt restructure? The answer cannot be found in economics because it resides deep in Europe’s labyrinthine politics.In 2010, the Greek state became insolvent. Two options consistent with continuing membership of the eurozone presented themselves: the sensible one, that any decent banker would recommend – restructuring the debt and reforming the economy; and the toxic option – extending new loans to a bankrupt entity while pretending that it remains solvent.Europe did not know how to respond to the financial crisis. Should it prepare for an expulsion (Grexit) or a federation? Continue reading...

The chancellor’s budget was not about caring for the poor but wooing those who like to think they carePerhaps it’s unwise to admit it, but one of the challenges during a budget speech is to stop your mind from wandering. Even an address of astonishing political audacity – as George Osborne’s was – has its longueurs, its moments when the stats are coming in such a blizzard, the borrowing projections merging with the annual growth percentages, that the brain, briefly blinded, looks elsewhere.On Wednesday, mine wandered to Philadelphia. Not the city itself, but rather the Republican national convention held there in 2000. They gathered to anoint George W Bush as their nominee and laid on a spectacle that had one striking feature. Though only 4% of the delegates in the hall were black, one headline speaker after another was either African-American or from some other identifiable minority.Related: George Osborne took 'much more from the poor' in budgetOsborne has co-opted a halo brand that is not his – the living wage Continue reading...