Fewer hospital beds and rising staff sickness dragging down NHS, says IFS December 14, 2022 The NHS is less productive now than it was before the pandemic despite an increase in spending each year since 2019. In October 2022, the NHS carried out 14 per cent fewer emergency admissions, 14 per cent fewer outpatient appointments and 11 per cent fewer elective and maternity admissions than in the same month in 2019, [...]
Khan calls for London to get bigger slice of Levelling Up cash from government December 14, 2022 Sadiq Khan has called on Rishi Sunak to give London more cash from the government’s signature Levelling Up fund to tackle “the capital’s own substantial inequalities”. The London mayor said the capital was missing out on hundreds of millions of pounds of government money post-Brexit. New figures from City Hall show London has received £76 [...]
Solidarity? These rail strikes hit the lowest-paid the hardest December 13, 2022 In primary schools across the world, teachers spend hours pointing out to their students the wonder of the natural world – the way all the pieces fit together to make a whole. Bug-eyed kids stare avidly at the inner workings of an ant’s nest; others might be shown a video of the ways bee colonies [...]
Bank of England calls for tighter rules on LDI market after mini-budget chaos December 13, 2022 Tighter oversight of the pensions industry is needed to ensure it can “withstand severe but plausible market moves” similar in size to those seen in the aftermath of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget in September, the Bank of England said today. The recommendation from the Bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) has been sparked by concerns over [...]
Rishi Sunak warns his cabinet about ‘challenging’ winter of UK strikes December 13, 2022 Rishi Sunak has warned his cabinet that winter will be “challenging” as widespread industrial action ramps up and as the economic downturn deepens. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman today said the “government will do all we can to minimise disruption”, while calling for union bosses to get back to the negotiating table. Today marks the [...]
China crafts £116bn chips support package as it tackles US curbs with WTO December 13, 2022 China is reportedly crafting a $143bn (£116.5bn) package to support its semiconductor industry, as it tackles new US trading curbs with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The package would be a major pillar in sustaining its chips sector, which is currently fielding attempts from the US to slow its technological advances. Beijing plans to roll [...]
Twitter gaffe: Musk’s site labels Norway, its PM and foreign minister as ‘Nigerian’ December 13, 2022 Twitter was mocked by Norway this morning after its new verification system told users the country was actually Nigeria. Continuing its streak of mishaps, the social media site labelled Norway’s foreign ministry as a “Nigeria government organization”, while Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Store and Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt were also mischaracterised. This comes after Elon [...]
Royal Navy contracts bump up revenues for outsourcing giant Capita December 13, 2022 Outsourcing firm Capita said its contracts with the Royal Navy had bumped up revenues in the past 11 months and it had slashed its debt levels by offloading areas of the business, as it updated the market on the year’s trading.
Rail strikes: More competition could see unrest become a thing of the past December 12, 2022 Government cannot continue to abdicate responsibility - it is time to bang some heads together to end the rail strikes
Kwarteng was warned by Treasury boffins about market reaction to mini-Budget December 12, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng was warned by senior civil servants about a potential adverse market reaction to measures announced in the catastrophic mini-Budget, it has been revealed. Beth Russell, second permanent secretary at the Treasury, today said she told the former chancellor that financing £50bn of tax cuts through borrowing could spook the markets. Financial markets reacted [...]