Britain needs Multinational Monday – not yet more arbitrary tax hikes December 8, 2014 BRITAIN has just celebrated “Small Business Saturday”. Perhaps yesterday should have been declared “Multinational Monday”. Multinationals are often the engine of poverty reduction in under-developed countries; and they promote technology transfer and transform lives all around the world. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what life would be like without them. Of course, multinationals deserve [...]
Why the Salmond surge won’t happen – and the Scots will back Labour in 2015 December 8, 2014 ALEX Salmond just won’t go away. The politician, who first became an MP in 1987 – and who is no stranger to holding mandates in different parliaments at the same time (while criticising others for doing the same) – has announced he will seek to re-enter the House of Commons in May, after resigning as [...]
As the Bank says borrowers can cope with rate hikes, are fears of a repayment crisis overdone? December 8, 2014 Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Berenberg Bank, says Yes. Some households will be poorly prepared for a rise in rates, but this is a question of magnitude. The Bank of England yesterday showed that, if wages grow, even a 2 percentage point rise in rates would just increase the number of vulnerable households to [...]
The drunken gambler syndrome: Why the West never learns from its failures December 7, 2014 Let's call it the drunken gambler’s theorem. It’s the reason casinos in Las Vegas stay in business, no matter what the economy does. “Just one more bet: this time will be the one to do it.” Gamblers delude themselves that, rather than throwing money away, they are making investments, and they’re certain to win because [...]
Business has a patriotic duty to speak out on the economic benefits of the EU December 7, 2014 As Labour, we believe that the prospect of Britain leaving the EU poses the biggest risk to British national prosperity in a generation. That is why Labour will continue to make the case for reform in Europe, not exit from Europe. This is a campaign that unites all of us who know that we simply [...]
Business received more than it hoped for in this year’s Autumn Statement December 7, 2014 It may not be as exciting as an iPad or as romantic as jewellery, but George Osborne’s Autumn Statement last week was in many ways business’s equivalent of Christmas, with rewards for some – and coal for others. On the whole, however, the picture for the City was positive, with action proposed for some of [...]
As Premier Foods is criticised, should the state take action against “pay and stay” practices? December 7, 2014 Toby Perkins is shadow business minister, says Yes. If we are to build a strong economy which works fairly, we need businesses of all sizes to thrive. Unfair business practices threaten the recovery by undermining free and fair markets. Firms always have a right to negotiate for better prices, but the Premier Foods approach takes [...]
Exports have become a political football: We must change the way we look at trade December 4, 2014 LARGELY missing from the debate surrounding the Autumn Statement was a discussion of exports and the UK’s trade picture more generally. Ed Balls got in a brief ribbing about the supposedly stunted performance of UK exports and the progress to date in achieving the government’s aim of an “export-led recovery”. And the package of help [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: George Osborne’s stamp duty reform is a smack in the face for London – and hard-working strivers December 4, 2014 Midnight, 3 December 2014 is a date to celebrate for UK home buyers. Anyone purchasing a property worth less than £937,500 is now paying less tax. The chancellor’s move to scrap the invidious slab-style stamp duty land tax (SDLT) regime, introduced by Labour in 2000, and to transform it into a graduated tax, is a [...]
The future of savings lies beyond the jaded state guarantee on deposits December 4, 2014 COINCIDING with a celebrity-laden advertising campaign to boost awareness, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) marked its thirteenth birthday this week. The scheme, which guarantees deposits in authorised banks and building societies of up to £85,000 per individual per institution, has also received official attention of late. The Bank of England, recognising the FSCS’s limitations, [...]