July Budget 2015: Northern Powerhouse boost as George Osborne promises “seamless Oyster-style” ticket system for travel across region July 8, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne promised to put the “power into the Northern Powerhouse” as he presented his Summer Budget today, presenting a promise that is sure to cheer commuters. Train travel in the north of England is about to get a “seamless Oyster-style” ticketing system across the region (and yes, pun-happy tweeters have already coined the [...]
July Budget 2015: Buy-to-let landlords hit as George Osborne restricts mortgage tax relief and hikes rent a room allowance July 8, 2015 George Osborne has cut mortgage interest relief on buy-to-let homes, in an effort to create a "level playing field" between prospective landlords and those buying their homes to live in. Read more: Chancellor slashes corporation tax and bank levy The chancellor said the relief will be cut to the basic rate of income tax, which [...]
Summer Budget 2015: Barclays, HSBC, RBS share prices rise as Osborne reveals levy will be ditched July 8, 2015 Banks share prices lifted this afternoon as George Obsorne confirmed the levy would be phased out over the next six years. In a move widely seen as looking to sway HSBC, Standard Chartered et al from leaving the UK, Osborne's first all-Tory Budget confirmed that the levy would be cut gradually until 2022. Instead [...]
July Budget 2015: Odds on George Osborne to talk Greece, BBC, Long Term Economic Plan… and maybe some Balls July 8, 2015 Will George Osborne be talking Balls in the Budget? Ed Balls that it is. The chancellor name-checking the ousted MP and former shadow chancellor in his Budget address is a 10/1 bet. It's more likely Osborne will give a mention to #MinisterOfAwesome Yanis Varoufakis at 5/1, while Greece is the word topping the Budget buzzword [...]
July Budget 2015: Can you tell the difference between George Osborne and Gordon Brown? July 8, 2015 It's Budget day again today- and if it all seems a bit repetitive to you, spare a thought for George Osborne, who will be enduring his twelfth. Although, admittedly, it'll be the first time he hasn't had another party to please. But are they really all the same at heart? We've trawled through George [...]
July Budget 2015: FTSE rises ahead of George Osborne’s announcement July 8, 2015 After a disappointing few days in the wake of the Greek crisis, this morning the FTSE 100 woke up in a more optimistic mood, rising 0.52 per cent in early trading in anticipation of encouraging announcements from George Osborne during today's summer Budget. Read more: July Budget – Here's what to expect Sterling was 0.23 [...]
July Budget 2015: George Osborne set to push up tax thresholds but ease back on Conservative plans to slash welfare bill July 7, 2015 George Osborne will today use the first Tory Budget in 19 years to deliver on his party’s pre-election pledge to slash taxes for millions of workers. Yet the chancellor will also row back on the Conservatives’ manifesto commitment to find £12bn of savings from welfare payments by 2017-18 – instead taking an extra year to [...]
July Budget 2015: George Osborne increased welfare in coalition by £28bn. Where is it spent? July 7, 2015 Welfare is one of the big topics of the upcoming July Budget, and so it’s probably important to know where the vast sums of money go. The UK government spent £251bn on welfare payments during the financial year 2013-14, representing 37 per cent of all government spending, data released by the Office of National Statistics [...]
George Osborne to overhaul Sunday trading hours in biggest shakeup for 20 years July 6, 2015 Shops and supermarkets could be allowed to open for longer on Sundays in one of the biggest shakeup of trading laws in 20 years. Chancellor George Osborne will use tomorrow’s Budget to unveil plans to devolve powers to mayors or councils to decide for themselves what the rule over trading hours should be in their [...]
George Osborne: Greek crisis could go from bad to worse July 6, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has warned that the economic crisis in Greece has reached a “critical moment” with far-reaching consequences for the UK economy. “No-one should be under any illusions,” Osborne said yesterday in the House of Commons. “The situation risks going from bad to worse,” he added. “Britain will be affected the longer the Greek crisis [...]