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When the International Monetary Fund speaks, the world listens.
But should we?
In August, the IMF published its latest assessment of the UK economy.
Immediately, government press officers pounced: ministers declared that the IMF had endorsed their economic plan, boasting of growth and stability. Headlines obligingly followed suit.
But read beyond the slogans, and another picture emerges. Hidden in the technical jargon were recommendations that went far beyond number-crunching: calls to end the pension triple lock, widen means-testing, and even introduce “co-payments” in the NHS.
In plain English, that means making pensioners poorer and charging people to see a GP.
It isn’t neutral advice. It’s ideology — the IMF’s market-first worldview repackaged as economic necessity.
The mainstream media played along, cherry-picking whichever lines best suited their editorial stance. One report turned into three versions of reality: the Treasury’s cheerleading, the IMF’s privatisation wish-list, and the media’s fragmented “balance”.
The result left ordinary people in the dark, misled into thinking hard-right political policy is the only option.
This month’s Whip Line pamphlet examines how this trick was played — and what the alternatives could look like.
And there are alternatives: fair taxation, public investment, and a real plan to support living standards.
You won’t hear about them from the IMF.
But you’ll find them in The Whip Line – August 2025, out this Saturday.
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Spin isn’t impartial – the IMF’s dangerous influence (Whip Line launch countdown: four days)
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When the International Monetary Fund speaks, the world listens.
But should we?
In August, the IMF published its latest assessment of the UK economy.
Immediately, government press officers pounced: ministers declared that the IMF had endorsed their economic plan, boasting of growth and stability. Headlines obligingly followed suit.
But read beyond the slogans, and another picture emerges. Hidden in the technical jargon were recommendations that went far beyond number-crunching: calls to end the pension triple lock, widen means-testing, and even introduce “co-payments” in the NHS.
In plain English, that means making pensioners poorer and charging people to see a GP.
It isn’t neutral advice. It’s ideology — the IMF’s market-first worldview repackaged as economic necessity.
The mainstream media played along, cherry-picking whichever lines best suited their editorial stance. One report turned into three versions of reality: the Treasury’s cheerleading, the IMF’s privatisation wish-list, and the media’s fragmented “balance”.
The result left ordinary people in the dark, misled into thinking hard-right political policy is the only option.
This month’s Whip Line pamphlet examines how this trick was played — and what the alternatives could look like.
And there are alternatives: fair taxation, public investment, and a real plan to support living standards.
You won’t hear about them from the IMF.
But you’ll find them in The Whip Line – August 2025, out this Saturday.
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