Policy & Analysis Correspondent BBC Verify Author of "Exile Economics: What Happens if Globalisation Fails", published May 2025
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Why do we seem to find it so hard to have a rational conversation about how MUCH we pay in tax and HOW we pay it?
I'm exploring that in a new 3 part series for @BBCRadio4 and @BBCSounds.
Episode 1 of The Tax Conundrum available here
🎧👇...
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002l3…
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Ben Chu retweeted
Did Rachel Reeves and the Government “mislead” people about the state of the public finances and the need for tax rises before the Budget?
I think this is a rather complex question & the answer is not black and white.
A thread…🧵1/13
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Did Rachel Reeves and the Government “mislead” people about the state of the public finances and the need for tax rises before the Budget?
I think this is a rather complex question & the answer is not black and white.
A thread…🧵1/13
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The answer to this one seems to be a clear no, since we know from the OBR’s letter to the Treasury Select Committee on Friday that its final pre-measures headroom forecast of £4.2bn was delivered to HMT on 31 Oct and did not change after that...12/13
obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Lett…
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Thanks to @GrattanInst for choosing Exile Economics as a recommendation for the Australian PM's summer reading list!
1/ Announcing Grattan’s Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List for 2025! 🎉
Here are the six books we think the PM and all Australians should read over summer. #auspol buff.ly/UbafIPQ
ALT A graphic containing book covers of • Exile Economics: What happens if globalisation fails, by Ben Chu • Clearing the Air: A hopeful guide to solving climate change, by Hannah Ritchie • Patriarchy Inc.: What we get wrong about gender equality and why men still win at work, by Cordelia Fine • Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane • Losing It: Can we stop violence against women and children? by Jess Hill • I Want Everything, by Dominic Amerena
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Ben Chu retweeted
Hype or hope?
Multi-cancer blood tests promise to spot dozens of cancers early- but does the evidence stack up?
Today on @BBCFileOn4 I dig into one of medicine’s toughest topics: screening, & what this new tech might really mean for patients & the NHS
bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002l35…
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Ben Chu retweeted
Budget looming, @BenChu_ and I went to Rachel Reeves’ home city to report on whether what she’s said about her plans adds up.
Lovely to get the drone and in situ GFX out.
🎥 Gemma Laister
📊 Mark Edwards
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If you're wondering HOW and WHY the government has got itself in such a mess on tax ahead of this latest Budget - take a listen to my new 3 part series on the UK's Tax Conundrum on Sounds... 🎧👇
Why do we seem to find it so hard to have a rational conversation about how MUCH we pay in tax and HOW we pay it?
I'm exploring that in a new 3 part series for @BBCRadio4 and @BBCSounds.
Episode 1 of The Tax Conundrum available here
🎧👇...
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002l3…
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...I'd especially recommend episode 3 for the crucial political/media/public opinion context for that fateful election manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, which many say is at the root of the government's problems. 👇
...And episode 3 of The Tax Conundrum available here 🎧👇
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002lp…
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Lots of talk about new tax rises this morning in the wake of Rachel Reeves’ speech
If you want a fresh, stand back, Radio 4 series on this subject 👇
Why do we seem to find it so hard to have a rational conversation about how MUCH we pay in tax and HOW we pay it?
I'm exploring that in a new 3 part series for @BBCRadio4 and @BBCSounds.
Episode 1 of The Tax Conundrum available here
🎧👇...
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002l3…
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