The Queen’s speech for the opening of the new Coalition Parliament was leaked and published over the weekend. We are reliably informed that this was a Palace ploy to conceal the real version which, thanks to our undercover insider in the royal household, we are pleased to publish here. My Lords and Members of the House of Commons:

Regular readers will recall that we were pleased to welcome a highly respected economist and financial journalist – Charlotte-Anne Schreiber – to our team of writers. Although still under 35 she already has a distinguished career with several international organisations and is at present an Associate with a leading firm of management consultants. (See ‘Who we are’ for full...

It says little for the press that with the coalition less than twenty-four hours old, commentators have already rushed to pass judgement. Why not shut up and wait and see what happens before passing judgement? It is not as if we have lost a government  of the wise and good. It was obvious as early as 1993 that Labour was always going to be a disaster, though the extent of it surprised me. It...

One of the effects of the British election result is that it has called into question the country’s “first past the post” electoral system. The problem is to find a better one. The three main parties reflect, in a rough and ready sort of way, the threefold division of the economic process and those who take part in it. There are those who own the land, those who run businesses...

Although the electoral campaign appeared to have degenerated into a personality contest, the result suggests that people did not just chose the party with the leader they liked the most. Arguably, however, the head-to-head debates were a mistake and may have been a factor leading to the inconclusive result.