Hunt tries to steady the ship as Tory MPs plot Truss’ downfall October 17, 2022 Jeremy Hunt yesterday urged Tory MPs to get behind Liz Truss to save her premiership as he warned of impending spending cuts and tax rises. The new chancellor said Truss had “listened” and “changed” since last month’s catastrophic mini-budget, while warning of the “difficult decisions” he would make to restore market confidence in the government. [...]
Truss and Hunt to oversee protracted recession, EY Item Club forecasts October 17, 2022 The UK is on course for a long recession that will last from this winter through to next summer, underscoring the tough challenge facing prime minister Liz Truss and her new chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Rising inflation compounded by higher interest rates will force the economy into reverse in the current quarter until the summer of [...]
Truss’s botched mini budget heaps pressure on company finances October 17, 2022 Prime minister Liz Truss’s botched mini budget has heaped pressure on the finances of the UK’s largest companies, reveals new research out today. Chief financial officers of FTSE 100 and 250 firms see borrowing as more costly than at any time since 2010, according to big four accountant Deloitte. UK financial markets have been rocked [...]
Bank of England to launch gentler but still record rate rise after mini budget U-turns October 16, 2022 The Bank of England can marginally take its foot off the accelerator after prime minister Liz Truss U-turned on key aspects of her tax cutting mini budget, but will still launch the biggest move in its 25 years of independence, City economists are betting. The monetary policy committee (MPC) is set to lift borrowing costs [...]
Treasury to shut down £100m Covid fraud recovery squad in March October 16, 2022 The Treasury has decided to close down its unit charged with recovering money stolen through Covid fraud, after clawing back hundreds of millions less than expected. The £100m Taxpayer Protection Taskforce was set up by former chancellor Rishi Sunak to recover some of the estimated £5.8bn lost to fraud through three Covid support schemes. The [...]
New Westminster Foreign Affairs Committee chair says she will visit Taiwan October 16, 2022 The new chair of Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee has confirmed she will lead a delegation to Taiwan. Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton Alicia Kearns today said she has been rallying the committee to go to Taiwan since 2020, but that she is not trying to “antagonise” China. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House [...]
Tesco chair says Labour the ‘only team on the field’ on economic policy October 16, 2022 The chair of the UK’s largest retailer has praised Labour’s economic plans and said “there’s only one team on the field” – Sir Keir Starmer’s party. Tesco chair John Allan today said “I don’t think we’ve seen a growth plan from the Conservatives”, but that “we’ve seen the beginnings, I think, of a quite plausible [...]
Biden says Truss tax cuts were ‘a mistake’ and U-turn was ‘predictable’ October 16, 2022 US President Joe Biden has criticised Liz Truss’ tax plans as “a mistake” and said he “wasn’t the only one” who thought so. The President said the Prime Minister’s embarrassing U-turns were “predictable” when he was asked about it during a visit to an ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon. Biden said earlier this year [...]
Hunt says Truss has ‘changed’ as he warns of spending cuts and tax rises October 16, 2022 Jeremy Hunt has claimed Liz Truss has “changed” after the bruising last month as he warns of coming spending cuts and tax rises. The new chancellor said “spending is not going to increase by as much as people hoped” and that “taxes are not going to go down as quickly as people thought and some [...]
Truss and Kwarteng were ‘gamblers in a casino’ with UK economy, says Labour October 15, 2022 Prime minister Liz Truss and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “behaved like two gamblers in a casino” over the UK economy, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said today. Kwarteng was yesterday ousted by the new prime minister, making him the second shortest-running chancellor in the UK’s history. Succeeding Kwarteng is Jeremy Hunt, who this morning [...]