James Bartholomew on UK Welfare Benefits @iealondon

Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

“If you don’t care about welfare benefits, it will come up and bite you in the backside.”

After Reform unveiled its welfare plans, James Bartholomew joins Lord Hannan on the IEA Podcast to discuss the choices facing all parties - with Britain’s national debt now above £3 trillion.

James Bartholomew on UK Welfare Benefits

What is Opportunity Cost? Episode 5 | Economics 101

Green Deals in the EU Exposed | IEA Interview

Julian Jessop tells MPs on the Treasury Select Committee some home truths

$Tax Rises Built a Black Market. Britain Is Next. | IEA Interview In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Dr Christopher Snowdon speaks with Rohan Pike, a former Australian Federal Police officer and ex-Australian Border Force official who spent his final years in public service working on illicit tobacco. The conversation looks at the Laffer Curve as a real world example, using Australia’s tobacco duty, where revenue has fallen from $16 billion to $4 billion even as tax rates climbed. They discuss how taxation pushed past the point where higher rates raise less money, and what that means for smokers, the public purse and crime. Pike sets out how the illicit market has grown to around 80% of all tobacco sold in Australia, with the illicit vape market above 95%. He explains how tax of roughly $1.53 per cigarette, about £17 a packet before sales tax, opened a gap that organised crime moved to fill, with black market packets selling for a fraction of the legal price. The discussion covers the violence that has followed, including murders and hundreds of fire bombings, the rise of a multi-billion dollar criminal syndicate, and why enforcement at the border can only ever stop a small share of what comes through. The second half turns to Britain. Snowdon and Pike argue that the UK is only a few years behind Australia, pointing to high tobacco duty, the tax escalator, the planned vape tax and official figures that they say understate the size of the illicit trade. Pike argues that the answer is not tougher enforcement alone but lower excise, consistent enforcement and an honest approach to harm reduction, contrasting Australia’s stance on vaping with the position taken in the UK and New Zealand. He closes with a warning for the Treasury and for ministers that the same path leads to the same result. The Institute of Economic Affairs is a registered educational charity. It does not endorse or give support for any political party in the UK or elsewhere. Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The views represented here are those of the speakers alone, not those of the Institute, its Managing Trustees, Academic Advisory Council members or senior staff.$

Australias social media ban is already backfiring with unintended consequences.

Why Young People Cant Get Jobs Anymore | IEA Interview

Andy Burnham blames Thatcher and Brexit for Britain’s economic problems.

How officials hide the true £7.6 Trillion price tag through made-up baselines and wishful thinking.

How to Win a Trade War, with Soumaya Keynes | IEA Interview

Institute of Economic Affairs |

James Bartholomew on UK Welfare Benefits