This will-we, won’t-we budget is causing economic harm October 29, 2024 Watching the will-we, won’t-we budget commentary unfold over the past few months has been painful and has caused significant uncertainty across the market. Not to mention that delaying the budget to October following the July election was a misstep, it has resulted in drawn-out public scrutiny of the multitude of possible tax changes on the [...]
Keir Starmer: ‘I will defend our tough decisions all day long’ October 28, 2024 Speaking in Birmingham ahead of the Budget, the Prime Minister said politicians needed to be honest with the public about the difficult decisions facing the government.
Starmer denies misleading the public over tax rises in Labour manifesto October 26, 2024 Sir Keir Starmer has denied misleading the public at the general election over tax plans after he suggested people who make money from shares and property could face greater levies. The Prime Minister rejected claims he was waging a “war on middle Britain” amid pre-Budget speculation he could increase the burden for those who have [...]
New data bill to loosen red tape for businesses and NHS October 24, 2024 The UK government has introduced a new data bill to parliament to cut red tape for businesses and public service organisations like the NHS, which it claims could add £10bn to the economy over the next decade. The ‘Data Use and Access’ bill plans to make data sharing easier, reducing admin headaches for companies. For [...]
Labour activists are right to campaign for Harris October 24, 2024 It’s easy to laugh at try-hard Labour staffers wanting to get involved in US politics by campaigning for Kamala Harris, but what happens in America matters to us all, says Will Cooling We’ve all experienced the horror of returning from holiday to a massive backlog of work emails and urgent tasks, but few have experienced [...]
UK economy receives hefty growth upgrade from IMF October 22, 2024 The international fiscal watchdog now expects the UK to grow 1.1 per cent in 2024, up from a previous forecast of 0.7 per cent.
Inheritance tax receipts hit record high ahead of expected Budget reforms October 22, 2024 The government raked in £4.3bn from inheritance tax in the six months to September, a nine per cent rise on the same period last year, as Rachel Reeves lines up reforms to the unpopular tax in her Budget next week. According to figures released by HMRC on Tuesday, the Exchequer received £736m from inheritance tax [...]
Autumn Budget: Which taxes will Rachel Reeves hike? October 22, 2024 With the Autumn Budget set to be delivered in just a few days, speculation about which taxes Chancellor Rachel Reeves will opt to raise has reached fever pitch. On entering No 11 Downing Street, Reeves commissioned the Treasury to conduct a thorough spending audit, which she claimed unearthed a “fiscal black hole” of £22bn, paving [...]
It’s hard work working out what ‘working people’ means October 22, 2024 Politicians do like to lump people together. In recent years we’ve had the squeezed middle, the just-about-managing, hard working families and (who could forget?) Nick Clegg’s “alarm clock Britain.” To this list of amorphous jargon we must now add “working people.” Labour figures have been leaning on the phrase for months, not least as part [...]
Budget: Minister refuses to rule out tax rise for £100,000 earners nine times October 21, 2024 A government minister has refused to rule out whether Labour would increase taxes on those earning more than £100,000 at the Budget. Speaking to Sky News, care minister Stephen Kinnock refused nine times to say whether – under Labour’s definition – someone earning a six figure salary would see their taxes go up. Labour’s election [...]