Recession fears chill UK investment as CBI urges Jeremy Hunt to rethink tax grab at March budget February 27, 2023 British businesses are poised to mothball investment due to uncertainty over whether the country is on course to tip into a recession and a looming tax grab, a new survey out today indicates. Fears of a slowdown in spending caused by families’ finances being squeezed by the cost of living crisis has knocked optimism among [...]
UK public services struggling despite near 70-year tax high, report warns February 23, 2023 UK public services can no longer match people’s expectations despite the tax burden being on course to hit a 70-year high, a think tank report has warned. Government decisions to date have done “little to shift the dial,” the Institute for Government (IfG) and CIPFA warned today in their latest performance tracker on the state-run [...]
Rishi Sunak: PM’s personal poll ratings hit record lows February 22, 2023 Rishi Sunak’s approval rating has reached its lowest point yet amid widespread pessimism about Brexit and the direction of the UK. Just 27 per cent of people told pollster Ipsos that they had a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister in a survey, while 46 per cent said they had an unfavourable view. A month [...]
UK inflation will drop back to Bank of England two per cent target by end of this year, economists predict February 22, 2023 Inflation in the UK is on track to fall exactly back to the Bank of England’s target by the end of this year, according to forecasts by two top City of London economists. The rate of price increases will tumble to two per cent in the final three months of 2023, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics. [...]
Jeremy Hunt faces calls for March budget giveaways after UK borrows £30bn less than forecast February 21, 2023 The UK government spent less than it reaped in from taxpayers last month helping to push yearly borrowing £30bn lower than projected by forecasters, officials figures out today reveal. The difference between what the government generated in revenue and spent hit a positive £5.4bn, meaning the UK’s public finances were in surplus last month, according [...]
Putin blames Ukraine and the West for starting war ahead of one year mark February 21, 2023 Vladimir Putin has blamed Ukraine and the West for starting the war in an address to the Russian parliament ahead of the one year anniversary of the conflict. The Russian president referred to the “war” in Ukraine for the first time during his State of the Nation speech, after previously only referring to it as [...]
Jeremy Hunt’s fiscal rules are holding back the UK economy – it’s time for change February 21, 2023 Bean counters are running the Treasury again. I’m imagining sheets of paper plastered with Jeremy Hunt’s current fiscal rules pinned up around Whitehall to remind departments of the belt-tightening needed to balance the books. Fiscal rules are targets Chancellors have aimed to meet since George Osborne pivoted away from Gordon Brown’s “Golden Rules” in 2010 [...]
Pressure mounts on Sunak over planned six per cent rise in corporation tax February 20, 2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak is facing down the prospect of a rebellion over next month’s budget as renewed pressure mounts over a planned increase in corporation tax increase. Seven top Tory backbenchers and business owners including Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin have urged Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt to scrap the planned six per cent rise. [...]
Week ahead: UK January borrowing bill to hit £5bn to pay for cost of living support, experts predict February 19, 2023 Britain is expected to have borrowed around £5bn last month, largely to pay for household energy support, new figures out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week are poised to show. The difference between what the government spends and takes in tax revenue – the deficit – is likely to have been kept [...]
UK military risks NATO downgrade, security think tank warns February 16, 2023 Britain risks no longer being NATO’s top military power in Europe, a think tank report has warned, in the midst of growing security issues. The French military has more troops, jets and ships than the UK, despite spending £13bn less on defence, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) found. France boasts 203,250 personnel compared [...]