Photo of Will Hutton
Will Hutton

Columnist

Will is a long-standing Observer columnist. He is also President of the Academy of Social Sciences, hosts its We Society podcast and co-chairs the business think-tank the Purposeful Company.

Photo of Will Hutton

Will Hutton

Columnist

Will is a long-standing Observer columnist. He is also President of the Academy of Social Sciences, hosts its We Society podcast and co-chairs the business think-tank the Purposeful Company.

  • Will Hutton
    UK’s tech sector could be the best in Europe, but this timid budget won’t help

    The fiscal black hole never existed. Those baby steps towards growth could have been technological leaps

    Sun, 30 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    A tame budget with a sting in its tail

    Rachel Reeves delivered a recognisably social democratic budget that conformed to Labour values

    Wed, 26 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Help with cost of living will make tax smorgasboard easier to swallow

    Although many in the media suggest the new budget will bring doom and gloom, there are reasons to be hopeful

    Sun, 23 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    It’s time for the Treasury to take back control

    The country, economy, financial markets and the political process are in thrall to a seesawing of expectations and speculation

    Sun, 16 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    To combat rising prices, the government’s only option is to take on the cost itself

    Brexit has left Britain reliant on too many international middlemen, but it will take a good deal of time for Rachel Reeves to unwind this

    Sun, 9 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Debt strategy will be the core of Reeves’s ‘aggressive’ budget

    The chancellor will likely hike income tax and reduce spend to keep creditors on side

    Sun, 2 Nov 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Why a fall in productivity could be the straw that breaks the economy’s back

    The beleaguered chancellor will have a fresh headache now that the OBR forecast has piled £17.5bn atop a ballooning deficit

    Thu, 30 Oct 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Reeves sets her sight on a European Silicon Valley

    With Brexit costing the UK £80bn a year in lost taxes, the chancellor has her work cut out

    Sun, 26 Oct 2025

  • Will Hutton
    A Labour strategy that could make the revenue numbers add up

    A risk-averse government could focus on wealth reforms next month as it struggles to establish control of the economy

    Sun, 19 Oct 2025

  • Will Hutton
    How Labour can unpick the triple lock

    The British Pension Plan would guarantee every child born from today a decent pension as a right. It is not too good to be true

    Sun, 12 Oct 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Levelling up is the way to beat Reform

    Done with conviction, Boris Johnson’s much-mocked policy could lift the UK’s national output

    Sun, 28 Sept 2025

  • Will Hutton
    UK can be one of top tech economies – if it takes risks

    From tax to pension funds, the UK must change to get the economy moving

    Sun, 14 Sept 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Be confident that a new age of Enlightenment is possible

    The principles that opened the door to modernity were great in 1784 and remain great in 2025

    Sun, 31 Aug 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Britain’s right wing just twists and shouts

    The economy is faring rather better than Labour’s media detractors would have you believe

    Sun, 17 Aug 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Trump has made the world cross the economic rubicon

    Many leaders have decided that effective vassalage to the US is preferable to being on the losing side in a trade war

    Sat, 2 Aug 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Labour must exploit the advantage of power – or lose it

    Ministers praise stability and pragmatism. Instead they must dare to fight fire with fire

    Sat, 19 Jul 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Children face a death sentence because of anti-vaccine rhetoric

    As RFK amplifies vaccination fears, beyond America millions of people will die unnecessarily from infectious disease

    Thu, 10 Jul 2025

  • Will Hutton
    Trump is gambling that the UK will help pick up the tab

    Caesar Trump is more like Nero than Augustus – fiddling while his country burns

    Sun, 6 Jul 2025

  • Will Hutton
    The only way out for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves is to show sheer audacity

    The welfare reform battle and the chancellor’s perceived vulnerability have badly wounded the government. It’s time to be bold

    Thu, 3 Jul 2025

  • Will Hutton
    It is time to stop treating Britain's tax system as taboo

    Next year tax revenues will climb to the highest proportion of GDP for 70 years. Labour must make the case for essential taxation for the common good

    Sun, 22 Jun 2025

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