At a glance: All the crucial points from Osborne’s emergency Budget June 22, 2010 THE ECONOMY/PUBLIC FINANCES • The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published fresh forecasts in light of the measures announced yesterday by chancellor George Osborne. • GDP growth will be 1.2 per cent in 2010, accelerating to 2.3 per cent in 2011, 2.8 per cent in 2012 and 2.9 per cent in 2013. The pace of [...]
Great progress on the deficit – but far too many unnecessary tax hikes June 22, 2010 WE?were told to expect a tough Budget, with lots of pain, and that was exactly what we got. Many of the policies announced were necessary; others, however, are clearly misguided. On balance, however, this Budget will leave Britain in a stronger position –?not something that could usually be said of the previous government’s efforts. George [...]
Labour goads Lib Dem MPs over VAT hike June 22, 2010 HARRIET Harman launched a scathing attack on the Liberal Democrats yesterday, claiming they had “sacrificed everything they ever stood for to ride in ministerial cars”. The acting Labour leader said George Osborne’s Budget would “throw people out of work” and hurt economic growth, as she sought to paint the Lib Dems as spineless coalition partners [...]
Coalition avoids capital gains revolt but tensions remain June 22, 2010 A COMPROMISE over higher capital gains tax has stopped a Tory rebellion in its tracks – but there is growing tension in the Liberal Democrat party over higher VAT. The coalition government yesterday increased the top rate of capital gains tax from 18 per cent to 28 per cent, a much lower rate than the [...]
Darling: Budget cuts could send Britain into a Japan-style slump June 22, 2010 SHADOW chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday warned massive spending cuts could push Britain into a long-term Japanese-style slump. He claimed massive spending cuts and a sharp hike in VAT – both announced by George Osborne in his inaugural Budget yesterday – would depress demand and send the economy into a period of stagnation. “You have a situation [...]
BP shares fall to 13-year low June 22, 2010 BP’S SHARES continued their fall yesterday hitting a 13-year low as the embattled oil major admitted that the “financial consequences of the spill will be severe”. The group’s share price plummeted to 328.50p at its lowest point yesterday but regained some ground near the end of the day to close at 334.20p. The fall marks [...]
Diamond: Lehman creditors gained from Barclays bid June 22, 2010 Barclays president Bob Diamond said yesterday Lehman creditors fared better under his bank’s purchase of Lehman Brothers core US brokerage business than they would have if the assets had been sold on the open market. The testimony came on the second day of a trial over whether the British bank received an unfair $11bn windfall [...]
Aegon to slash UK overheads and sell US reinsurance arm June 22, 2010 SHARES in Aegon fell yesterday as investors took profits on news the Dutch company would shave a quarter from overheads in its UK arm and sell its US life reinsurance business. The insurance group told shareholders in London it wanted to save £80m annually from its British operations by cutting costs by 25 per cent [...]
Japanese PM strikes tough tone on debt June 22, 2010 JAPAN’S government pledged to consider doubling the country’s five per cent sales tax within three years yesterday in a bid to soothe concerns over its billowing national debt. Trying to address the fears of credit rating agencies, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said reform of Japan’s parlous fiscal affairs would be his top priority. In a [...]
EC investigates state bailout of WestLB June 22, 2010 EUROPEAN Union regulators extended their temporary approval of the state bailout of German lender WestLB yesterday while they investigate whether the rescue complies with EU rules. The European Commission, which had approved conditional state aid for WestLB, said data provided by the bank was more complex than expected and it needed extra time to assess [...]