Spring Statement: Philip Hammond demands Brexit consensus as he warns of no deal dangers March 13, 2019 Philip Hammond used his Spring Statement today to urge MPs to compromise on Brexit as he launched a savage assessment on the economic risk of ‘no deal’. Speaking a day after parliament again voted down Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, the chancellor said leaving the EU without a deal would increase unemployment and food prices, and [...]
ii winter portfolios 2018-19 deliver mega profits March 13, 2019 | City Talk Four months into this six-month strategy and both our winter portfolios are thriving, writes Lee Wild. Finding a trading strategy that works 100 per cent of the time is the Holy Grail of investing. We’re not claiming to have found it here, and seasonal trading is not for everyone, but there is a statistical anomaly backed [...]
Enrolling with the times: How the workplace pension hike could affect you March 13, 2019 Since the government began phasing in auto-enrolment almost seven years ago, 10m people have now joined their workplace pension scheme. By encouraging Brits of all ages to save for retirement, the auto-enrolment system was designed to stop the UK from hurtling head-first into a pensions crisis. So far, it’s been a success. Even more people are [...]
DEBATE: With just 16 days to go until Brexit, is there any point to the Spring Statement? March 13, 2019 With just 16 days to go until Brexit, is there any point to the Spring Statement? Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG, says YES. While Brexit is likely to dominate minds again this week, and continue to bring a fog of uncertainty over the outlook for the UK economy, the Spring Statement is still important. [...]
The left should listen up: Tax reform is a progressive cause March 13, 2019 In 2012, the columnist Mary Dejevsky wrote a piece for the Independent arguing that the centre-left should advocate a flat tax. It was in response to the publication of the Single Income Tax, the final report of the 2020 Tax Commission, convened by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) and the Institute of Directors, and chaired by former [...]
Brexiteers have imperilled their own project March 12, 2019 The fact that 40 Tory MPs who previously voted against the deal swung behind the PM is significant – and will be seized upon by Downing Street strategists as evidence that there is life in her deal yet. Some big beasts are among the pro-Brexit Tories who voted last night in favour of the deal, [...]
Theresa May suffers second Brexit deal defeat as MPs take control of the next steps March 12, 2019 Theresa May has lost control of Brexit after suffering a second humiliating defeat on her withdrawal deal. The PM’s plan was voted down by a majority of 149 MPs after she failed to win changes to the treaty that would allow UK to unilaterally exit the controversial Irish border backstop arrangement. MPs will now vote on [...]
UK bank shares: A pre-Brexit view March 12, 2019 | City Talk Some UK bank shares have made massive profits for shareholders, but how should you play the sector now? It’s been a few weeks since the last of the big UK-listed banks published results for 2018, and share price performance since has been varied. Brexit, of course, has played its part and, with some lenders up [...]
The Conservative party needs to rediscover its economic way March 12, 2019 For most people, the Conservative’s 2015 “long-term economic plan” is now a distant memory. But as someone who was deeply immersed in that election campaign, I still sometimes wake up at night reciting its contents. Though much mocked for its repetition, the plan was more than just a catchphrase. From deficit reduction and tax cuts [...]
Deal or no deal, let’s make the UK the most attractive place for business March 12, 2019 What happens if there’s no Brexit deal? Over the past year, we’ve had various answers to this question – most ranging from the alarming to the apocalyptic. But while we’ve heard an awful lot about the problems, we haven’t heard much about solutions. That’s why our think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies, has just [...]