Investment regime vital to getting the UK growing once again November 20, 2022 In a few pages’ time, you’ll read from Chris Hayward – the City of London Corporation’s Policy Chair – on the body’s latest project, moving two of London’s historic markets to a new location. Billingsgate will move from Canary Wharf, and Smithfield from Farringdon, to a new super-site in Barking. It’ll create jobs in east [...]
Hunt on course to miss fiscal targets despite £55bn of tightening, Deutsche Bank bet November 20, 2022 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is on course to miss his fiscal goals due to a weaker growth outlook than forecast by the UK’s budget watchdog, an investment bank has said. According to Sanjay Raja, senior economist at Deutsche Bank, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) GDP growth forecasts are too optimistic. Last week, the OBR said [...]
Zahawi says government still wants pre-election tax cuts November 20, 2022 The government still wants to cut taxes before the next General Election, Tory party chair Nadhim Zahawi has said. Zahawi said Jeremy Hunt “wouldn’t have a hope in hell” of cutting taxes before inflation dramatically reduces, but that the chancellor’s priority is to slash the tax burden once it has. Hunt moved to hike taxes [...]
Starmer vows to abolish House of Lords if Labour wins election November 20, 2022 The House of Lords will be abolished and replaced with an elected upper chamber if Labour wins the next election, Sir Keir Starmer has announced. Starmer told Labour’s peers this week that the UK’s political system had been undermined by recent Prime Ministers appointing “lackeys and donors” to the House of Lords. Politicians will be [...]
Brexit: Barclay denies UK wants ‘Swiss-style’ relationship with EU November 20, 2022 A senior cabinet minister has denied reports the UK wants a closer “Swiss-style” relationship with the EU post-Brexit. Health secretary Steve Barclay has said he doesn’t “recognise” the proposal and that chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined “our determination to maximise post-Brexit opportunities in pro-growth areas” during his autumn statement on Thursday. The Sunday Times reported today [...]
Rishi Sunak meets President Zelensky in first Ukraine visit November 19, 2022 Rishi Sunak has met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in his first visit to Kyiv since becoming Prime Minister. “We discussed the most important issues both for our countries and for global security,” Mr Zelensky wrote on Telegram following the meeting earlier today. “We are stronger and we will achieve the desired results,” he added. [...]
City’s top legal minds sound alarm over impact of Raab’s Bill of Rights on businesses November 19, 2022 Some of the City’s brightest minds have expressed “considerable concern” about the unintended consequences of the Bill of Rights on businesses. Stephen Denyer, the Law Society’s director of strategic relationships, warned that there is a “widespread feeling amongst businesses that the Bill presents an unnecessary risk and problem”. The Bill of Rights will return to [...]
Council boss who led Rotherham abuse scandal response named City of London’s new chief exec November 18, 2022 A high-profile public sector chief, who led Rotherham council’s response to the town’s sex abuse scandal, is set to take on a new position as the City of London’s Town Clerk. Ian Thomas CBE will leave his position as head of the Royal Borough of Kingston to succeed John Barradell as the City of [...]
The Tory knives are out as Jacob Rees-Mogg calls Hunt’s Budget cuts ‘undeliverable’ November 18, 2022 The Chancellor’s spending cuts may prove “undeliverable” as Jeremy Hunt faces criticism from a range of senior Tories for raising taxes as he seeks to rebuild the UK’s battered public finances. Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the Chancellor of taking the “easy option” in Thursday’s autumn statement rather than bearing down harder on public [...]
Autumn Budget aftermath: Economists warn Hunt piles pressure on ‘squeezed middle’ November 18, 2022 Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement has piled further pressure on the “squeezed middle” according to analysis from the Resolution Foundation that found tax rises would deliver a 3.7 per cent income hit to typical households. The think tank said the uprating of benefits in line with inflation would make a “huge difference to those on low-to-middle [...]