Spring statement: defence spending boosted as further disability benefit cuts announced – experts react

By Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Vice Dean and Professor in Economics, University of East London
Jamie Gaskarth, Professor of Foreign Policy and International Relations, The Open University
Linda Yueh, Fellow in Economics/Adjunct Professor of Economics, University of Oxford
Nicky Shaw, Senior Lecturer in Operations Management. Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds
Simon Williams, Associate Faculty, Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds
Steve Schifferes, Honorary Research Fellow, City Political Economy Research Centre, City St George's, University of London
William E. Donald, Associate Professor of Sustainable Careers and Human Resource Management, University of Southampton

Not even six months on from Labour’s first budget, and the world is a much-changed place. Geopolitical tensions and uncertainties, already high last year, have risen further, and with them the cost of the UK’s debt, while economic growth has stalled. As such, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confronted an array of unpalatable choices – notably cutting disability benefits – to enable her to increase defence spending and stabilise the public finances. Here’s what our panel of experts made of the statement:

Falling inflation wasn’t enough to prevent further disability cuts

Read complete article

~	How is classified information typically shared and can officials declassify secrets whenever they want? A national security expert explains

~	Liberia’s quest for reconciliation after decades of waiting

~	Thousands are feared dead in Myanmar’s quake. Trump’s USAID cuts will cause even more unnecessary deaths

~	As Trinidad & Tobago’s Court of Appeal reverses buggery law ruling, does the colonial grip persist?

~	A Sydney ‘dark romance’ author is charged with producing child sex abuse material. How do we police books in Australia?

~	What users need to know about privacy and data after 23andMe’s bankruptcy filing

~	‘Everyday discrimination’ linked to increased anxiety and depression across all groups of Americans

~	A new natural history GCSE is welcome – but climate change needs to be part of the whole curriculum

~	Why we love the escapism of apocalyptic dramas

~	Being hated worked for Just Stop Oil