Treasury reveals £15bn annual saving from chancellor George Osborne’s tax credit reforms October 19, 2015 The government has leapt to the defence of its plan to slash tax credits, publishing figures that reveal a £15bn annual saving from reforms introduced since 2010. Chancellor George Osborne is under growing pressure to row back on his plan to slash the threshold at which tax credits start to be withdrawn. Some members of his [...]
EU referendum: Bank of England governor Mark Carney poised to make Brexit intervention October 19, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney could make a major intervention in the Brexit debate tomorrow when the Bank publishes its view on the impact of a British exit from the EU. In the run up to last year’s vote on Scottish Independence BoE governor Mark Carney dealt a blow to separatists when he said that [...]
Wall St stays flat despite tech advances – New York Report October 19, 2015 Cautious investors at the start of a heavy week of earnings helped Wall Street stay flat yesterday, but advances in top tech names gave some support. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.57 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 17,230.54, the S&P 500 gained 0.55 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 2,033.66 and the Nasdaq [...]
London house prices: The capital leads the way with Build to Rent scheme October 19, 2015 Calls for more properties to be built in London to slow rampant price growth are being partly answered. The capital is leading the way in the Build to Rent scheme, with the number of rental developments in the pipeline more than double that in the rest of the UK. The scheme allows developers to build properties for rent [...]
Jamie Oliver gets bitter about fizzy drinks as he calls for a 20 per cent sugar tax October 19, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron needs to be “brave” and back a tax on sugar, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has said. Oliver told MPs on the House of Commons’ Health Committee: "We should be big and bold. Who is running the country? The businesses who are profiting from ill health or is it us?" He believes [...]
The US economy is losing momentum, according to businesses October 19, 2015 The US economy has taken its foot off the gas and is headed for a slowdown in the final three months of the year, new survey data reveal today. The sales managers’ index compiled by World Economics slid to a score of 55.6 in October from September’s 57.9. While the score is above the 50 [...]
Standard & Poor’s downgrades rating on Greek bank Piraeus’ debt October 19, 2015 It's not nice to start the week on a downer, but that's what's happened at Greek bank Piraeus, which has had its debt and credit ratings downgraded to a "D" default rating by Standard & Poor's. Last Thursday the Greek-based bank announced it was offering to exchange around €16.2m (£11.8m) of Tier One debt, €211.2m of Tier [...]
London mayor Boris Johnson joins battle to save the capital’s night-time economy October 19, 2015 London mayor Boris Johnson has joined the battle to save the city's night-time economy. Johnson has announced a host of new measures in the wake of a new report, entitled London's Grassroots Music Venues Rescue Plan, which found the number of grassroots music venues has fallen 35 per cent since 2007. This ramps up fears [...]
China’s third quarter GDP beats expectations, but it’s the weakest economic growth since 2009 October 19, 2015 China's economy grew by more than expected in the third quarter of this year, easing fears that it is slowing at a greater pace than previously thought. China's statistics bureau said this morning that the country's gross domestic product increased 6.9 per cent between July and September from a year ago, beating analysts' estimates for 6.8 [...]
London house prices up by 10 per cent in October and first-time buyers bear the brunt – Rightmove October 19, 2015 There's just no end to it. London house prices are 9.8 per cent higher than they were in October 2014, data released today by online property market Rightmove reveals. Nationally, house prices rose 5.6 per cent year-on-year with first-time buyer properties leading the way at 9.6 per cent. The number of properties coming to the London [...]