Why we should cheer on chancellor Philip Hammond -aka Spreadsheet Phil – during today’s Spring Budget March 8, 2017 Cast your minds back to November 2015, when George Osborne was still chancellor of the exchequer and Brexit was merely a twinkle in Boris Johnson’s artful eyes. Osborne was under pressure to scrap his proposed cuts to tax credits following an intense political storm. Fortunately for David Cameron’s right hand man, the government’s fiscal watchdog presented [...]
Christopher Steele, the man behind the Trump dossier, heads back to work, and breaks his silence to thank people for their support March 7, 2017 The ex-MI6 agent behind the controversial dossier claiming to prove a link between President Donald Trump and the Russian government has returned to work today, stopping to have a quick word with reporters on his way through the door. Christopher Steele, now director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence, compiled the dossier which was published by Buzzfeed in January. [...]
The House of Lords just handed Theresa May her second parliamentary defeat on Brexit March 7, 2017 The House of Lords has inflicted a second Brexit defeat on Prime Minister Theresa May, amending her Article 50 Bill in a bid to force the government to offer a “meaningful” vote on quitting the EU. After three hours of occasionally fractious debate, peers voted 366 to 268 in favour of the change. A handful of Conservative peers [...]
Spring Budget 2017: What should chancellor Philip Hammond’s headline promise be tomorrow? March 7, 2017 Sam Dumitriu, head of projects at the Adam Smith Institute, says scrap a tax: Not all taxes are created equal, but almost all deter productive activity. Philip Hammond should look to Lord Lawson’s stint where he abolished at least one tax every Budget and took an axe to top marginal rates. So where should he [...]
Exclusive: Apprentice star Lord Sugar says “Labour is dead”, Amazon should pay more in business rates and no one understands Brexit March 7, 2017 Apprentice star Lord Sugar has slammed Jeremy Corbyn for "destroying the Labour party". Speaking exclusively to City A.M., the billionaire entrepreneur said: "I think Jeremy Corbyn is totally useless and he’s destroyed the Labour party. It’s finished. It’s dead. They’ve got to find a new leader. "They need to kick him out but he’s so belligerent he [...]
Budget 2017 UK: Buzzword predictions and Philip Hammond’s speech odds from bookies – Brexit, Trump and the NHS March 7, 2017 Brace yourself… there's a Budget coming. Philip Hammond will be making his first speech laying out plans for spending and the telling the nation about the state of the economy in his Spring Budget on Wednesday. What's in store from the newbie chancellor? And will he be picking up from where his predecessor George Osborne left [...]
Former Tory leader William Hague is calling for an early general election – and Theresa May says no March 7, 2017 Surprise, surprise: Downing Street has shot down attempts by former Conservative leader Lord Hague to persuade Theresa May to call a snap general election. A Downing Street source said May had been "clear and consistent in her position: she doesn't think there should be one". Writing in the Daily Telegraph, William Hague said the move “would strengthen [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]
Budget 2017 UK predictions: What you can expect from the chancellor’s Spring Budget March 7, 2017 It's that time of year again: the chancellor is getting set to dust off his little red box and deliver the Spring Budget. It's the last one we'll see at this time of year, as Philip Hammond decided to move the major announcements to an Autumn Statement schedule. It's likely to be a more staid [...]
The US and UK are failing to confront the long-term drivers of explosive debt growth March 7, 2017 The chancellor Philip Hammond will take to the despatch box tomorrow to deliver his Budget. The media will pore over the plethora of announcements made – fiddly tax changes here, growth forecast revisions there. But this short-term focus misses the real policy story of the post-crisis period. The political class is failing to address our [...]