Budget 2021: Four key issues for Rishi Sunak today March 3, 2021 Just a few months ago, Chancellor Rishi Sunak had hoped that his spring budget would be an opportunity to move the economic agenda away from Covid-19, and back towards the government’s ‘levelling up’ commitment. But as he prepares to announce his latest set of measures on later today, the reality looks very different. Despite the good [...]
Budget 2021: Furlough extension a life-saver but not enough, analysts say March 3, 2021 The extension of the furlough scheme will swoop in to save sectors and jobs across the UK, but analysts have urged the government to go further. Rishi Sunak will announce the move in today’s Budget, meaning the government will pay millions of people’s wages beyond the end of Covid restrictions. The chancellor said last night [...]
Budget: UK on track for upside scenario with net debt falling, says J.P. Morgan AM chief strategist March 3, 2021 As Rishi Sunak is getting ready to present this year’s Budget, there are two central questions the Chancellor will likely have been asking himself in the run up to today, according to Karen Ward, chief market strategist EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “How much further support will the economy need prior to restrictions being [...]
Rishi Sunak must take his time balancing the books or risk punishing those hardest hit by Covid March 3, 2021 Timing is everything. The Chancellor, as he weighs up his options to make some initial headway in his avowed “sacred duty” to balance the books, knows this only too well. His income support schemes are being closely managed to match the extension and easing of pandemic restrictions on the economy. While this is significant, so [...]
Furlough scheme extended to September in Rishi Sunak’s Budget March 2, 2021 The UK’s furlough scheme will be extended until September in tomorrow’s Budget, ensuring the government will pay millions of people’s wages past when Covid restrictions are set to end. The chancellor said tonight that it was “only right” that the government continued to help businesses and pay workers’ wages as the UK looks to lift [...]
Brand Budget 2021: How Chancellor Rishi Sunak went loco for logos March 2, 2021 The hottest promotional video of this week came not from Netflix, but instead from a rather unexpected source: the Chancellor of the exchequer. Riding on a wave of pre-Budget excitement, Rishi Sunak this week dropped a slick five-minute film that would make any marketing team proud. But while the idea of branding a Budget is [...]
Budget 2021: What to expect from Rishi Sunak’s three-point plan tomorrow afternoon March 2, 2021 Rishi Sunak has hinted that he will extend a wide range of government support schemes in tomorrow’s Budget, as he again pledged to do “whatever it takes” to restore the British economy from the impact of the coronavirus crisis. It may be only Sunak’s second Budget as chancellor, but it comes after delivering almost a [...]
Budget: Looming tax hike met with shock and horror within the self-employed community March 2, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce new taxes on online deliveries and freelance workers in tomorrow’s Budget, largely aimed at helping to pay off the UK’s Covid spending. Moreover, he may up taxes for self-employed people. The taxes are aimed at targeting online firms like Amazon, Boohoo and Asos, which have seen profits soar [...]
Banks raise the alarm over £100 contactless payment limit March 2, 2021 Major UK banks are said to have raised concerns over an increase in the contactless payment limit to £100 due to the growing risk of fraud. In his Budget tomorrow chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to hike the cap on contactless spending from its current limit of £45. But a string of high street lenders [...]
Budget 2021: Philip Hammond tells Boris Johnson to ditch big infrastructure projects March 2, 2021 Former chancellor Lord Philip Hammond has told Boris Johnson to ditch his plans for big infrastructure projects in the North, with the UK facing its largest ever Budget deficit. Hammond said today that a better way to enact Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda was for more devolution to regions, while also calling for tax rises and [...]