‘Wasteful’ disposable vapes to be banned by next June October 24, 2024 Disposable vape sales will be banned by next summer, the government has said, branding the e-cigarette products “wasteful”. Fresh legislation to ban the sale of single-use vaping devices from June 2025 was introduced before Parliament on Wednesday. The government says an estimated five million single-use vapes were littered or thrown away each week last year [...]
Businesses paying living wage ‘do better’, Sadiq Khan says October 23, 2024 Businesses paying their staff the living wage “do better”, Sadiq Khan has argued, as he welcomed a rise in the London living wage. The Mayor of London spoke to City AM at an event marking the five per cent increase for 140,000 workers, who will see their pay increase to £13.85 an hour. Speaking in [...]
Column: Water, water everywhere… October 23, 2024 Or why the latest twist in the sewage tale suggests a rebalancing of Labour’s priorities England’s water system made a splash again this week, hitting the headlines as the government announced their latest move to – as they put it – clean up the industry. An independent review, led by none other than the former [...]
Scrapping Ofwat could be considered by new water sector commission October 22, 2024 Scrapping watchdog Ofwat could be considered by a new independent commission on the water sector as ministers aim to attract investment into the industry. Ministers have launched the largest review of the sector since it was privatised, with the commission set to be chaired by former deputy Bank of England Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe. It [...]
Jeremy Hunt: Upping employer NI would be an ‘absolute disaster’ for economy October 22, 2024 Increasing employer national insurance contributions in the Budget would be an “absolute disaster” for Britain economically, Jeremy Hunt has warned. “I’m really worried that Labour is going to trash an economy, which has better growth prospects than it has for many years,” the shadow Chancellor told the Financial Times in an interview. On the prospect [...]
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 [...]
Borrowing beats expectations as Rachel Reeves prepares tax rises October 22, 2024 The borrowing figures are merely the latest indication of the challenging fiscal position which the new government has inherited as the Budget approaches.
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 [...]