Nick Macpherson

Former Treasury official

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

I'm calling time on twitter. I can no longer take its tone though the fault is probably mine. Have gone over to Bluesky which appears rather more civilised. #nickmacpherson.bsky.social #soundmoney

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@GregHands @APascuTulbure @George_Osborne @DavidGauke @Jeremy_Hunt @MelJStride And currently available on A ebooks for £3.19. #valueformoney

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

Every Chief Secretary to the Treasury (and for that matter every spending official) should read it. #soundmoney

[Greg Hands @GregHands]

Right now, it’s well worth re-reading Joel Barrett’s seminal work “Inside the Treasury”.

How the Wilson/Callaghan government 1974-79 never recovered from granting big public sector pay rises in 1974.

Joel Barnett as Chief Secretary fought a losing battle for five years after.

[Jill Rutter @jillongovt]

Nick is right.. Jeremy Hunt would have been apoplectic if HMT officials had shared their view of spending pressures with the Shadow Chancellor before the election as he suggested (unless he authorised it...)

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

I feel for HMT officIals. The rules precluded them sharing spending pressures with Ms Reeves ahead of the Election; the current framework precluded them discussing the realism of spending plans with the OBR. The changes to the OBR charter announced today are a big step forward.

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

The interesting question about the universal winter fuel payment is not its abolition but why it lasted so long. Mr Brown introduced it when the state pension was indexed to prices. Once the "triple lock" was introduced, the case for a WFP for all fell away.

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

The time to abolish the 1200 year old penny is when we abolish the coinage altogether. Meanwhile, as a wise PM observed when seeing off a similar proposal "if you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves". #soundmoney

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 NEW: The Treasury is considering scrapping 1ps and 2ps

[@EveningStandard]

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

The fault line in the current UK fiscal regime is less Truss-style mini-budgets and more the requirement that the OBR has to take on trust wholly implausible spending plans, eg on prisons, defence & social care. Solving that is the route to fiscal credibility. #soundmoney

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@NeilDotObrien I wish I was responsible for this line. But credit where it's due: the quote is from Sir Bruce Fraser, Comptroller and Auditor General in the 1960s. Congratulations on your reelection.

[Neil O'Brien @NeilDotObrien]

I saw this and remembered Nick Macpherson's comment that "The Treasury exists to protect people from the consequences of human nature"

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@dannyalexander @LibDems For 144 of the 192 years since the Great Reform bill, Wester Ross has been represented by Whigs, Liberals, the Crofters' Party, a National Liberal or Liberal Democrats. Good to see normal service resumed.

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

The most effective politicians I worked for always made time for their families. Alistair Darling comes to mind. Those who sought to work every hour of the day became increasingly ineffective. This line of attack is utterly incomprehensible.

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

Keir Starmer's comments that he will not work past 6pm on a Friday to spend time with his children are not "realistic" and "quite tin-eared”, says energy secretary Claire Coutinho.

📻 https://t.co/jQ5ML3bkRJ

@StigAbell

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@dsmitheconomics Great article as ever. At the risk of being pedantic, you've forgotten Hugh Gaitskell, head of UCL's economics department before the war.

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@rbrharrison @montie A good election to win. Britain's economic prospects are set reasonably fair.

[Ed Balls @edballs]

Do come along to King’s tomorrow evening if you’re interested in learning more about the May 1997 transition at the Treasury - our panel includes Nick Macpherson, Sue Nye, Tom Scholar and we’ll be showing clips from the STV documentaries and discussing them with director Ross Wilson and producer Rhoda Macdonald - all happening at 6pm Thursday, link below to register…

[The Strand Group @thestrandgroup]

Our Visiting Prof @nickmacpherson2: ‘When it comes to economic policy making, history is probably the best guide there is’ https://t.co/EJLV9XEm2G

Join us this Autumn for 10th year of our postgrad ‘Chancellors & the Treasury: Managing the British Economy’ https://t.co/noikpqzBMw

[The Strand Group @thestrandgroup]

Join us on 27 June for an edited viewing of 1997 STV doc 'We Are The Treasury' with @edballs @nickmacpherson2 Sue Nye & Tom Scholar plus director Ross Wilson & producer @RhodaMacdonald discussing the events at HMT after the election & lessons for today
🎟️ https://t.co/OfKVqqbboO

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

@rorymeakin Totally agree. But as with development land tax, those with gains tend to sit on their hands until there's a government which will see them right. Theoretically, you could seek to tax accrued gains as income but I fear the electorate would consider that "bad form".

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

No government however left wing has ever contemplated applying CGT to principal residence. As for the CGT rate, the OBR determines how much revenue any change generates. In my time, the rate which maximised revenue was in the 23-28% range. #redherringtastic

[Ben Riley-Smith @benrileysmith]

NEW

Labour is now explicitly ruling out putting Capital Gains Tax on people’s main homes.

Labour spokesman: “No. Labour will not introduce capital gains taxes on primary residences. It’s a bad idea.”

A change in position after 9 days of Tory pressure.
https://t.co/JpqrxV7Bak

[Nick Macpherson @nickmacpherson2]

Tim Lankaster’s “Inside Thatcher’s Monetarism Experiment: the Promise, the Failure, the Legacy” is well worth a read. Here’s my review for @spectator

The costly legacy of Margaret Thatcher’s monetarism https://t.co/1Hvh6ZCPvI