‘A breath of fresh air’ vs ‘more to do’: What City grandees have to say about Sunak April 17, 2023 As Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t tire of reminding voters: expertise beyond politics can be invaluable. For the current resident behind that most famous front door, it’s so far proved an advantage. Liz Truss’ accountancy background may not have aided her short-lived leadership bout, but – for the City’s boardrooms at least – her [...]
Hunt mulls pension reform amid concern older Brits not getting ‘returns they could expect’ April 14, 2023 The Chancellor has suggested the pension system needs reform to ensure people receive higher returns. Jeremy Hunt said he is concerned that pensioners are not getting “the returns that they could expect”, according to the Daily Telegraph. The Chancellor was speaking in Washington where he is attending the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund [...]
Childcare: Two in five mothers say high costs are still keeping them out of the workplace April 14, 2023 Two in five mothers feel prohibited from returning to work due to the high cost of childcare, even with Jeremy Hunt’s expanded childcare offering, a new survey of 2,000 mothers has revealed. “Nursery and childminder costs can swallow a huge chunk of new parents’ earnings, and with the current cost of living crisis squeezing every [...]
Sunak insists he is ‘low-tax’ Tory – as UK set for record burden April 13, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted he is a “low-tax Conservative” despite the UK being on course for the highest burden of the post-war years. Sunak maintained he wanted “to make sure we can lower taxes over time” but said it was vital to “get inflation down and get borrowing under control” as a first [...]
Jeremy Hunt tells Washington that UK predictions are ‘much better’ than IMF doomsayers April 13, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said he is “confident” the UK will beat the poor growth forecasts predicted by the IMF. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said earlier this year that the UK economy will shrink by 0.3 per cent this year and grow by just one per cent in 2024. Speaking to Bloomberg in Washington [...]
UK debt burden to top size of whole economy putting Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt pledge at risk, IMF forecasts April 12, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are on course to oversee the UK’s debt burden swelling to more than the size of the entire economy, putting one of the pair’s five pledges to taxpayers in peril, according to new forecasts out today. Britain’s debt to GDP ratio is tipped to climb to just over 101 per [...]
‘Hunt failed firms’: Warning of bleak outlook as businesses face 85 per cent drop in energy bill support – BCC March 31, 2023 Business leaders are stepping up warnings that firms will struggle to pay energy bills when a government relief scheme ends on Saturday.
Tory row erupts over response to US green subsidies after Hunt refuses to go ‘toe to toe’ with Biden March 30, 2023 Conservative MPs are divided over plans for the UK’s response to the US green subsidies scheme after the Chancellor said Britain would not go “toe to toe” with president Joe Biden. Net zero secretary Grant Shapps today unveiled proposals to ‘power up’ Britain with new energy security measures, in what was expected to be a [...]
Treasury hunts for a new cybersecurity boss – guess how little they are paying? March 30, 2023 Protecting the UK Treasury from a whole host of cyber threats sounds like quite an important role, and one that you might think warrants a decent salary in order to secure someone with the technical skill and professional track record who is able to take on the task. Well, not quite. Despite claiming the UK [...]
Backlash from over 50s may force government to delay increase in state pension age to 68 until after election March 30, 2023 Plans to increase the state pension age to 68 have been delayed, according to reports. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is expected to address MPs in the Commons on Thursday, when he is expected to update them on the latest statutory review on the pension age. According to reports in the i and the [...]