By: Alys Denby

Alys Denby is opinion and features editor of CityAM. She writes the weekly Free Thinking newsletter and presents the video series of the same name. She regularly appears in broadcast media including BBC, Channel 5 Sky News, Times Radio, LBC and GB News. She has previously worked for a think tank and as a parliamentary researcher

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All 66 Articles

A ‘New Deal’ for fewer jobs and worse pay?

October 8, 2024

Labour’s promise of a ‘New Deal for Working People’ is deliberately worded to evoke the era of Roosevelt, when major federal interventions supposedly shook America out of the Great Depression and conclusively demonstrated the benefits of Keynesian economics. But even Keynes knew it was more complicated than this. Alongside stimulus, he wrote that reversing a [...]
Explainer: Boris Johnson’s humble address to the Queen?

October 4, 2024

Boris Johnson is never less than obsequious when referring to the late Queen in his new memoir, Unleashed, but is he really a loyal subject? Westminster has been gripped by the release of Boris Johnson’s new memoir, Unleashed, with figures from all areas of public life frantically checking the index to see if they are [...]
Tories must get out of their bubble and listen to business

October 2, 2024

To those outside the bubble of true blue believers, Conservative party conference looked deranged. As violence exploded in the Middle East, delegates in Birmingham were battling over novelty merchandise and queuing for selfies with election losers. Fringe events debating the meaning of conservatism were packed while corporate sponsors and business lobbyists were conspicuous by their [...]
Why Conservatives are still asking: What would Margaret Thatcher do?

September 27, 2024

Why are people at Conservative Party Conference 2024 still talking about Margaret Thatcher? Because she gave Tories something to believe in, says Alys Denby It’s Conservative Party conference and one subject that’s guaranteed to come up at any gathering of Tories is Margaret Thatcher. The palms of upholstered older party members moisten as they share [...]
Is this Peckham pub serving Britain’s best burger?

September 18, 2024

My local pub serves Britain’s best burger – I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I support The Montpelier on Choumert Road in all its endeavours, just as it has supported me through celebrations, hangovers, breast-feeding emergencies and excruciating family lunches. But I’m not sure I want it to become famous for [...]
Sanctimonious Starmer falls short of his own standards

September 17, 2024

As Keir Starmer faces questions over a £5,000 donation towards his wife’s wardrobe, the Prime Minister is finding out that decency in public life isn’t an automatic function of not being a Tory, writes Alys Denby When Victoria Starmer entered Downing Street for the first time wearing a Me+Em dress in Labour rose red, the [...]
The real fiscal ‘black hole’ is government debt

September 11, 2024

When one of the most senior figures in investment banking was asked at a private event last week what keeps him awake at night, he replied “government debt”. A recent House of Lords report will not help him sleep any easier. The Economics Affairs Committee has warned of the “grim reality” that at £2.74 trillion [...]
Are young people losing faith in the NHS?

September 2, 2024

When it comes to private healthcare, young people are revealing a welcome preference for choice One of the most revealing moments in Labour’s policy-lite election campaign was when Keir Starmer insisted he would never use private healthcare for himself or a family member. For the Labour leader, the NHS is a matter of identity upon [...]
Raising capital gains tax would be a big mistake

August 1, 2024

CityAM’s consistent warning that the government will raise taxes in their first Budget have been vindicated. Rachel Reeves admitted that “I think we will have to increase taxes” to the News Agents podcast. Labour will no doubt rebut accusations that this is a violation of their election pledges with references to their weaselly caveat [...]
Rayner must defy her own backbenchers and build, baby, build

July 31, 2024

Angela Rayner has clearly been reading CityAM. In a statement to the House of Commons yesterday the housing secretary outlined plans to build 370,000 homes a year, in a clear victory for our Build, Baby, Build campaign. The challenge now is to realise that ambition in bricks and mortar. It is encouraging, then, that [...]

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By: Alys Denby

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