Breaking: Three households will be able to mix for five days over Christmas November 24, 2020 Up to three households will be able to mix indoors during a five-day Christmas relaxation of lockdown rules, UK leaders have agreed. Under new plans, members of up to three different households will be able to form an exclusive bubble between 23 and 27 December. That will not include hospitality settings, though members of three [...]
Spending review: Rishi Sunak to spend extra £4.3bn on unemployment programmes November 24, 2020 Rishi Sunak will unveil a new £2.9bn unemployment scheme and £1.4bn in extra funding for Job Centre Plus at tomorrow’s comprehensive spending review. A statement from the Treasury said Sunak’s three-year Restart scheme will help 1m people find work, with those unemployed for more than 12 months to get “regular, intensive jobs support”. In 2021-2022 [...]
Rishi Sunak’s spending review: Three things to look out for November 24, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is no stranger to the House of Commons despatch box, having delivered numerous mini-budgets since March. But tomorrow he will lay out comprehensive spending plans for the 2021-22 financial year in one of his biggest announcements yet. Although it will not cover a three-year period, as originally planned, it will show the [...]
Hancock says vaccine roll-out could mean a return to normality by Easter November 24, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock hopes the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine would signal that life could go back to “normal” by Easter. Speaking today Hancock told a joint session of the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee: “After Easter, we think we will be getting back to normal.” At a press [...]
Retirees to be hit by inflation change in Rishi Sunak spending review November 24, 2020 Rishi Sunak is set to cost investors £100bn by announcing a change to how pensions are calculated in tomorrow’s comprehensive spending review. The Telegraph reports that Sunak is considering linking pension rises to CPI instead of the retail price index, which would mean smaller yearly increases. The change would mean that 10m retirees will receive [...]
Investor sentiment in City upbeat as Trump hints at orderly transfer of power November 24, 2020 Despite the lacklustre start to this week’s trading, investor sentiment in the City and beyond is certainly becoming much less pessimistic. This renewed push appears to have come about as a result of overnight events in the US, where Joe Biden is starting the transition process to a new US administration next year. “President Trump [...]
England’s 28 day lockdown will actually only last 27 days as restrictions lift next Wednesday November 24, 2020 England’s national lockdown will last one day shorter than expected, with restrictions set to lift at 0.01am next Wednesday. Announcing the nationwide measures last month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the restrictions would last 28 days starting 4 November, as the government scrambled to curb a spike in infections across the country. However, the restrictions [...]
Trumped: President gives green light for peaceful transition of power to Joe Biden November 24, 2020 After weeks of pushback, President Donald Trump’s administration last night cleared the ground for President-elect Joe Biden to enter the White House. The Repuplican has repeatedly claimed widespread voter fraud since the 3 November presidential election, but failed to muster up any evidence. His administration has instead filed legal challenges to vote counts across the [...]
Don’t bid farewell to all the Brexit fish just yet November 24, 2020 So long, and thanks for all the fish. Not only book four in the Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy trilogy (“in five parts”) by Douglas Adams, but also, apparently, a negotiating strategy. The UK-EU trade talks are said to be trapped on a handful of unresolved issues, and one of them swims. We could be [...]
We need a British Development Bank to level-up the regions November 24, 2020 Tomorrow, chancellor Rishi Sunak will address the nation and announce the government’s National Infrastructure Strategy. While the focus has primarily been on what infrastructure investments and tax reforms might be on the horizon, there is an opportunity here to think bigger. What Britain needs is a new financing institution, like a British Development Bank, to [...]