Budget 2020: Government to move 22,000 civil servants from London March 11, 2020 The government will move 22,000 civil servant jobs away from London in a major Whitehall shakeup. Chancellor Rishi Sunak made the announcement in his Budget speech today, confirming that 750 staff from the Treasury and departments of business, international trade and local government would move to an “economic campus” in the North. The announcement was [...]
Budget 2020: Government will raise living wage and lift floor for National Insurance March 11, 2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak said today that the government will raise the national living wage to £10.50 by 2024 and will raise the minimum threshold for National Insurance. In his budget speech Sunak announced a goal of raising the national living wage to two thirds of median earnings by 2024 – which would be equivalent [...]
Mayoral candidate Rory Stewart accused of ‘sensationalising’ coronavirus March 11, 2020 Mayoral candidate Rory Stewart has been accused of sensationalising the UK’s coronavirus outbreak. Conservative MP Steve Baker lashed out at Stewart, a former Tory cabinet secretary, on Twitter today for his calls to immediately shut all schools and limit public gatherings. The UK’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty has said these measures are not necessary. [...]
Budget 2020: Chancellor raises threshold for pensions tax relief to £200,000 March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak said today that the tapered allowance threshold for pensions tax relief will increase to £200,000. The pensions annual allowance is the maximum amount of tax-relieved pension savings that can be accrued in a year Sunak increased the two tapered thresholds for pension tax relief by £90,000 today. This means that from 2020-21 [...]
Budget 2020: Sunak confirms £600bn in capital investment for UK transport and industry March 11, 2020 The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has pledged £600bn in investment over the next five years for infrastructure and industry in today’s Budget. The announcement will mean that public investment will hit its highest levels since 1955, and will see capital budgets rise over £110m in 2024 and 2025. Part of the deal will [...]
Budget 2020: Business rates cut for more small leisure and retail firms March 11, 2020 Small retail, leisure and hospitality businesses will be exempt from paying business rates for one year as part of an emergency budget to protect the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. All retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be exempt from paying business rates over [...]
Treasury deep-cleaned on eve of Budget after official’s partner tests positive for coronavirus March 11, 2020 The Treasury was deep cleaned last night on the eve of today’s Budget announcement after an official’s partner tested positive for coronavirus. Officials have been told they can work from home today, despite it being one of the biggest days in the fiscal calendar. The Treasury confirmed a Buzzfeed report that the unnamed official has [...]
Budget: Chancellor says coronavirus will be ‘front and centre’ as PM wishes minister speedy recovery March 11, 2020 This morning’s Cabinet meeting was dominated by a debate around coronavirus, after it emerged overnight that a health minister had tested positive. Mid Bedfordshire MP Nadine Dorries, who is a health minister, revealed she had the disease but was “over the worst of it”. She raised concerns about her elderly mother who “began with the [...]
Budget 2020: How Rishi Sunak will tackle coronavirus and hike spending March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to unveil the 2020 Budget today after the Bank of England’s shock move to slash UK interest rates. Just four weeks into the job, Sunak has spent the last 27 days planning to hike public spending. Record investment would see the government mark the end of austerity. But he is [...]
Health minister Nadine Dorries tests postive for coronavirus March 11, 2020 Health minister Nadine Dorries is in self isolation after testing positive for coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK has hit 382 and six people in the UK have died from the virus so far. It was confirmed yesterday that the latest person to die was a man in his 80s [...]