Bank of England steps up bond market support again to tame ‘risk to financial stability’ October 11, 2022 The Bank of England today stepped up its emergency bond buying scheme to tackle “a material risk to UK financial stability”. It is the second time in as many days the Bank has ramped up support for the UK bond market, underscoring the scale of volatility it is grappling with. The monetary authority led by [...]
Astonishment as Liz Truss fails to mention today’s Bank of England emergency move during Cabinet meeting October 11, 2022 There is widespread astonishment among City analysts and Westminster insiders as Liz Truss failed to discuss the Bank of England’s latest emergency move with her Cabinet this morning. Downing Street said this afternoon the Bank of England’s latest intervention did not come up at Tuesday morning’s Cabinet meeting, nor did uprating benefits. Asked if the [...]
£62bn of spending cuts needed to balance books, IFS forecasts October 11, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng will need to slim the size of the state by £62bn to put the UK’s public finances on a stable footing, a top economic think tank said today. The prime minister and chancellor could be forced to reduce education and transport spending, which suffered deep cuts during the David Cameron [...]
OBR financial report and government fiscal plan to be delivered on 31 October October 10, 2022 The UK’s spending and borrowing watchdog’s assessment of the government’s tax cutting splurge will be released on 31 October, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced today. In a letter to Tory MP and chair of the treasury select committee, Mel Stride, Kwarteng said he has decided to bring the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecasts forward from [...]
Trade minister Conor Burns has whip suspended over claims of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ October 7, 2022 The Conservatives have suspended the whip for Trade Minister Conor Burns MP over claims of “inappropriate behaviour” at the Party conference this week. A Whips’ Office spokesman told City A.M.:“We have suspended the Whip pending investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour earlier this week. “We take all such allegations extremely seriously. The Prime Minister has [...]
Pound slumps against US dollar after Fitch sounds alarm on UK finances October 6, 2022 The pound slumped against the US dollar today while UK debt sold off after one of the world’s top credit rating agencies issued a sombre warning to investors about the country’s finances. Sterling weakened 1.55 per cent against the greenback to buy 1.115. It fell by a slightly smaller amount against the euro too. The [...]
Mini budget market turmoil partly triggered BoE emergency intervention, dep governor says October 6, 2022 Market volatility that followed chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini budget last month partly forced the Bank of England to step in to stabilise UK debt prices and prevent a crisis in the pensions sector, one of its top officials said today. After Kwarteng slashed taxes by £45bn and signalled a borrowing surge on Friday 23 September, [...]
Dorries: Truss ‘deserting the centre ground’ with ‘unconservative’ benefit cuts October 6, 2022 Nadine Dorries has accused Liz Truss of “lurching to the right and deserting the centre ground” allowing Labour leader Keir Starmer to “place his flag on”. The former culture secretary who supported Truss in her leadership bid and was a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson, said the government’s policies were “cruel” in a time of [...]
Truss ‘giving with one hand and taking with other’ through stealth taxes, IFS says October 6, 2022 Liz Truss is “giving with one hand and taking with the other” by keeping stealth taxes, a new study out today reveals. Some £2 for every £1 returned to Brits in the prime minister and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cutting mini-budget will be lost to “fiscal drag,” the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said today. [...]
Liz Truss speech: North London’s not the problem in Britain’s race to growth October 5, 2022 Like a battered boxer with a thick skull, then, Liz Truss lives to fight another day. On the ropes, yes, but not quite down and out. Yesterday’s speech was fine, as it goes, and not much more than that. It will keep her party in some degree of order for at least a week or [...]